After a stretch of uninspiring performances in which both the men’s and women’s tennis teams each lost four of five matches, they rebounded at home on Tuesday to defeat Howard University 6-1 and 5-2, respectively.
The men swept all but their first singles match, seeing their fourth, fifth and sixth singles players dominate the opposition in the process, losing only a combined nine games over three matches. The women then won their second consecutive match on Wednesday, recording another victory over a local team with a 4-3 win over the American University Eagles.
“Their top three were strong, so that was good for our top three. It was good, when someone’s not that strong, you get to work on things,” junior captain Bert Baggio said. He continued, “You want to try and stay focused because when you don’t, that’s when things start to go wrong against the other teams.”
The women relied on the tandem of sophomores Liz Winokur and Stephanie Cohen: Both won their singles matches and combined for their second doubles win in as many weeks. Winokur took over the first singles position from Cohen on March 27 and both have been playing better since then, often recording the only victories in the Hoyas’ string of 5-2 defeats.
The men clinched the doubles point early, with a close win in second doubles. Sophomores Etienne Paris and Theodore Tywang recorded a close win, drawing the match out to the last game for a 9-8 (3) win.
Third doubles was an easy affair for sophomore Andrew Clayton and freshman Ken Wong who won 8-2 to send the Hoyas into singles play with a one-point advantage.
After winning his first doubles match, “in a while,” Paris said, “Ted and I had been on a losing streak and it’s good to finally get off it, start playing well.”
Georgetown’s momentum ebbed quickly, however, when Paris dropped the first singles match, 6-3, 6-4. The loss aside, Paris has played well as of late; he had not lost in five matches.
Tywang picked up right where he left off in the doubles frame, drawing out the first set to 7-5, before a decisive 6-2 win in the second. The Hoyas never looked back, sweeping the remaining matches.
Tywang’s win to shift momentum back to the Hoyas was key, after what Paris called “an intense match, where I was really fired up and I thought I got hooked [cheated], but I couldn’t pull it out.” Tywang’s win avenged whatever controversy was felt over Paris’ loss and gave the team the positive attitude needed to earn the win.
The women had a similarly easy time of it, defeating cross-town Howard 5-2.
Winokur and Cohen needed nine games to win their doubles match, but the effort was for naught as freshmen Courtney Olsen and Taylor artin and junior Eileen Boyle and senior Charlotte Guy dropped the second and third doubles matches by scores of 8-2 and 9-7, respectively.
As soon as the singles matches began, Winokur and Cohen continued their recent streak of victories, posting 6-3, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-3 wins, respectively, giving the Hoyas a 2-1 lead.
The Hoyas followed in Winokur and Cohen’s footsteps, sweeping second, third, fourth and fifth singles until senior Charlotte Guy lost in a 10-point super tiebreaker after the match had been decided.
Because Georgetown had already clinched the match before the third set of sixth singles began, the coaches agreed, as per the rules of college tennis, to allow the third set be played as a race to 10 points as the result of the match would not affect the team’s result.
On Wednesday against American University, Georgetown lost its first two singles matches, giving American a 2-1 advantage heading into the meat of the match: third through sixth singles. Often, this season, the Hoyas have needed all six singles matches to decide the outcome of the day and the match against American would be no different.
With the score tied 3-3, little-used Georgetown junior Nora Gardner had the opportunity to clinch the victory with a win. She responded to the pressure, coasting to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over American’s sophomore Alison Schmidt.
The team has responded well to the introduction of new coach Gordie Ernst, going 3-0 since the announcement of his hiring.
Baggio and Paris agreed that Coach Ernst has been a positive addition to the team and while he is not at Georgetown frequently, his practices and drills have been valuable.
Paris said, “The little that he’s been coaching us, he knows what he’s doing. He’s got a big future planned for us, a little more than what it’s been recently, and I look forward to that.”
The Hoyas look to continue their hot streak this weekend. The men will take on Marquette today at the McDonough Tennis Courts at 3 p.m., where a win would guarantee a higher seed in the Big East tournament, pushing the Hoyas out of the bottom slot and avoiding a guaranteed date with a No.1 seed.
Meanwhile, the women face Rutgers tomorrow in New Brunswick, N.J., at 1 p.m.
