The Georgetown men’s tennis team opened its fall season on Tuesday with a commanding victory over the University of the District of Columbia, winning two out of the three doubles matches to secure the doubles point and sweeping the six singles matches in straight sets.

The team’s season-opening victory over the Firebirds (0-1, East Coast Conference) featured many new faces for the Hoyas (1-0, Big East). Freshmen Mark Militzer, Luke Ross, Connor Lee, Charlie Sharton and sophomore transfer Josh Marchalik provided victories at one through four and six respectively in their Georgetown debut. Returning sophomore Ian Witmer recorded the remaining singles victory at No. 5.

“The lineup this year will be more competitive than it has ever been,” Georgetown Head Coach Gordie Ernst said. “We have 12 guys, and at any point I could put any six in to play.”

This weekend, the men’s team will travel to Philadelphia for the Penn Invitational.

With its new roster depth, the team looks to test its new players this weekend when it plays several Ivy League teams, including Yale, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania. The Ivy League opponents should be a good assessment for a new and improved Georgetown team that struggled last season.

“We stack up well. My goal is always to try to put together a team that is on par with the Ivies,” Ernst said. “This is the first team that I’ve had in twelve years that can really go toe-to-toe with the Ivies.”

The Georgetown women’s tennis team opens its season this weekend at the Bedford Cup in College Park, Md. The Bedford Cup features a handful of teams from the Mid-Atlantic region, including local rival University of Maryland.

Finishing 13-6 in the 2017 spring season, the Hoyas have put together consecutive successful seasons. Whereas the men’s team features six new players, the women’s team will be a much more battle-tested and experienced group.

Although the team graduated star player Victoire Saperstein, the Blue and Gray return seven upperclassmen and many of its strongest players from last year. Seniors Sara Swift and Drew Spinosa, as well as juniors Risa Nakagawa, Sydney Goodson and Cecilia Lynham, are all back this season after being a large part of the team’s success last year.

“Experience is going to help us win this year,” Ernst said. “My players have been through so much together, and that’s good and bad. Beating [Villanova] but then losing to Seton Hall — so they’ve felt the agony of defeat as well, and they’re fired up.”

The Hoyas look to rebound from the team’s early exit in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament last year after coming into the tournament as a favorite to win. The Blue and Gray seek to lean on their experience and depth to bounce back and generate another successful regular season.