Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams are putting together impressive runs to end their respective seasons, building up important momentum with only a couple of matches left before the Big East tournament.
The men’s team (10-9, 3-0 Big East) came into the weekend riding a six-game winning streak. Head Coach Gordie Ernst credited the early adversity his team faced with preparing it for the second half of the season.
“That’s why we’ve been able to be successful — because we had a lot of tough matches and tough losses,” Ernst said. “We’ve responded really well to it.”
The Hoyas kicked off the weekend with a Friday home match against conference foe St. John’s (2-14, 0-2 Big East), coming out on top 4-3. That win over the Red Storm kept the squad undefeated in Big East play, a statistic that has made Ernst optimistic heading into the postseason.
“It gives us a lot of confidence for the Big East [tournament]. For the first time I’ve been here, we are going to have a higher seed than seventh,” he said. “I know that doesn’t sound too sexy, but it’s an accomplishment.”
The Blue and Gray the proceeded to dominate Fairfield (9-5, 3-0 MAAC) Saturday by a 6-1 scoreline to stretch their streak to eight.
Ernst singled out the leadership and play of senior captain Charlie Caris as being a key catalyst for the recent run by the Blue and Gray. For Caris, a key cog for his entire time on the Hilltop, the program’s successes have been a long time coming.
“Caris [has never] missed a match for the Hoyas,” Ernst said. “I think it’s worth mentioning and acknowledging a guy who has played all four years on the lineup for us — that is an accomplishment.”
The win streak did come to an end Sunday, however, when George Washington (12-5, 3-0 Atlantic 10) defeated Georgetown 6-1. Ernst noted that the match was nonetheless closer than the score indicated, and he was ultimately satisfied with the way his team competed.
“When you really look at it, we were right there with them,” Ernst said, explaining that a few critical lost points led to the Hoyas digging themselves a hole too deep to climb out of.
The women’s team (13-4, 3-2 Big East), meanwhile, had another successful outing, defeating East Carolina (12-9) 4-3 in its lone weekend contest.
Throughout the season, the Hoyas have developed a penchant for winning close matches by coming up with a clutch point or comeback win. Saturday was no different, as senior Victoria Sekely surged back from a two-game deficit to win her match, and graduate student Liz Hamlin won the final match to secure the win.
“Normally you get one or two [close wins] if you’re lucky. We’ve had like five of them. That’s not luck,” Ernst said. “It’s the fact that they fight so hard — and fight so hard for each other — that anything can happen.”
Sekely has been one of the most consistent performers for Georgetown over the last four years, and Ernst singled out for particular praise after her central role in Saturday’s victory.
“As a coach, you expect her to win a match like that once in a while, where she doesn’t have her A-game going but she digs down deep and fights, and that’s what she did,” Ernsty said. “In the third set she only made one unforced error. That put us in position to win.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams have one more week of regular season play before the Big East tournament begins April 18.
