The Georgetown men’s tennis team began its season at the Joe Hunt Invitational in Annapolis, Md., at the U.S. Naval Academy last weekend. This event was the first competitive play of the season for the Hoyas, and the team performed well, going 6-1 for the weekend.
The Hoyas (6-11, 2-2 Big East) had a tough last year, finishing with a losing record and falling to Marquette (15-9, 0-0 Big East) in the first round of the Big East tournament.
The Hoyas are aiming to turn that around this year.
This season, Georgetown is going to give the Big East its best shot. This effort begins in practice, according to Head Coach Courtney Dolehide.
“The expectation is bringing top effort day in and day out and giving it their all,” said Dolehide. “It’s something that is really important to us and is also in line with the Hoya spirit as well.”
The whole team was able to compete in both singles and doubles matches at the invitational this weekend. Freshman Kieran Foster and sophomore Justin Cheun led the way in singles matches, both going undefeated at 4-0 and 3-0. In doubles matches, all Georgetown duos suffered at least one loss, as Cheun and fellow sophomore Carlos Grande finished with the best record on the team, 3-1.
The first standout performer of the week was senior Ian Witmer’s performance against The George Washington University sophomore Hanyu Liu. Witmer was able to win in a tie-breaker third set. Witmer was able to finally break the tie after the set extended well beyond the normal length, a set which he ultimately won 10-8 after the set was tied at 6-6 when a winner would normally have been determined.
The second match Dolehide highlighted was Foster’s match against The George Washington University sophomore Ryan Navarro. Foster was able to win without going through the stress of a third set, winning the first two sets 6-4 and 7-5. This win is especially notable considering Foster’s lack of experience and the fact that Navarro was First Team All Atlantic 10 last year, claiming much more experience and success.
“These wins and the weekend as a whole demonstrated how competitive the Hoyas are and are going to be this year,” Dolehide said.
The invitational was less about winning and more about getting some competitive games under the Hoyas’ belt, according to Dolehide.
“It was a great way to get a lot of competitive practice at this point in the season. The team has been able to focus in on a couple of specific things over the summer so getting some games in after that was really important,” Dolehide said.
Dolehide made her goals for this season quite clear, as the team hopes to win the Big East tournament for the first time since 1989 and eventually return to the NCAA tournament.
The Hoyas will compete at ITA Regional Championships in Charlottesville, Va., from Oct. 17 to 21. On Oct. 4 and 5 in Annapolis, Md., the women’s team will be competing at the Navy Fall Invite.
