Georgetown’s tennis teams got off on the right foot this past weekend, impressing everyone – especially their coach while one player had to withdraw from exhaustion.
Head Coach Gordie Ernst praised his teams for their toughness and resiliency in this past weekend’s Georgetown Tennis Classic, the Hoyas’ first tournament of the fall season. Sophomore Kevin Walsh and junior Jeff Schnell won the men’s doubles championship by default and juniors Stephanie Cohen and Liz Winokur both reached the women’s singles semi-finals on Sunday at the McDonough tennis courts.
Freshman Anthony Tan also reached the men’s singles championship round before succumbing to dehydration.
The Hoyas played the equivalent of a tennis marathon, as some players stayed on the court for almost three straight days. Ernst said he was impressed that his team did so well in the heat despite their lack of conditioning work.
“Fall is a competitive time of the year for us, and we don’t have the proper conditioning yet,” Ernst said.
Tan literally played to the point of exhaustion. After reaching the finals, the Singapore native left the court and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for dehydration.
“Anthony just got worn down,” Ernst said. “He’s just a freshman, and he had played four matches the day before. I have no doubt that he will get better in the future.”
Schnell and Walsh were supposed to take on fellow Hoyas Tan and freshman Will Lowell in the men’s doubles final, but Tan’s exit gave the Schnell and Walsh duo a win by default.
Schnell and Walsh defeated George Washington’s tandem of ustafa Gencsoy and Elliot Daniels 8-6 in the semifinals. Gencsoy was named to the Atlantic-10 all-Conference team for the second-straight year last spring.
“That match says a lot about [Schnell and Walsh],” Ernst said. “They play so well together. [Walsh] brought it to a new level. He has the ability to take over a match.”
Ernst said he was equally pleased with the performances of Winokur and Cohen.
“[Winokur and Cohen] are our two top players,” Ernst said. “Both are in mid-season form and are very impressive.”
Winokur defeated Marist’s Megan Gurek 6-2, 6-3, George Washington’s Mara Frisch 3-6, 7-2, 6-5, and outlasted the Colonials’ Madhiri Jha 6-3, 6-3 before falling to arist’s Cassandra Strange 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals.
Cohen reached the semi-finals after defeating George Washington’s Rachel Hessling and Rachel Honig in the first two rounds by scores of 6-1, 6-0 and 6-4, 6-1, respectively. Cohen went on to defeat her teammate, sophomore Courtney Olsen, in the quarter-finals 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Cohen fell to eventual champion Kendall Swenson of George Washington in the semi-finals on Sunday 6-1, 6-2.
The loss did not stop her coach from singing her praises.
“Cohen has really stepped it up,” Ernst said. “She is a real fighter and she is very poised.”
The Hoya men will be back in action on Friday when they play host to the Colonials at 2 p.m. on the McDonough tennis courts. The Georgetown women will next face the Blue Hens of Delaware at cDonough on Oct. 7.
