Tennis teams blank Bears, 7-0, 9-0

The Hopkins Tennis teams posted back-to-back shutouts in a dual meet against Ursinus on Monday afternoon in Collegeville, Pa.

The men won 7-0 while the women's team won 9-0. Both teams hoped to follow up this performance with wins over McDaniel in a dual meet on Tuesday, but the meet was postponed due to poor weather conditions.

The men earned their second victory of the year in dominant fashion by shutting out the Ursinus.

The Blue Jays' record is now 2-5, with a 2-3 mark in Centennial Conference play. The Bears slipped to 3-7 overall and 1-5 in conference action.

The meet opened with doubles wins for the men in the first and second slots. Senior Justin Chan and junior Justin Belisario won 8-2 at No. 1, while sophomore Michael Kelly-Sell and senior Grant Roch defeated their second-seeded counterparts by a score of 8-4.

Although senior Aaron Ong and freshman Andrew Chang lost the third doubles match 8-5, the Blue Jays still carried the doubles point. Chan then won the first singles match 6-0, 6-1, and his partner, Belisario, won the second singles match by scores of 6-4 and 6-2. Kelly-Sell followed suit by edging his opponent 6-4, 6-0 in third singles. Roch then pounded his opponent 8-0 in a pro set in fourth singles.

Freshman Nick Kennedy remained undefeated at fifth singles with a 6-1, 6-2 win and Chang beat the sixth singles player from Ursinus 8-1 in another pro set.

"That is how we expect to play for the rest of the season," said Kelly-Sell. "We will be playing a lot of matches, and it will get us in the right mindset to compete." The women's team will also have an intense schedule in the next week as they prepare for the conference tournament.

The shutout of Ursinus improved the team's record to 4-2 on the season and 4-1 in conference meets. The Bears dropped to 1-7 overall and 0-6 in the Centennial Conference.

Junior Michelle Liang and senior Cara Loeys took the No. 1 singles match 8-2 to open the meet. Freshman Priya Puri and senior Liz Crowe followed by winning at No. 2 singles by the same score. Freshman Meghan Hasenhauer and sophomore Jill Seidman maintained their spotless record at third doubles by shutting out their opponents 8-0.

Liang bested her opponent 6-3, 6-3 in first singles. Freshman Becky Busch shut out the second Ursinus singles player 8-0 in a pro set in her return from injury. Puri won 6-0, 6-2 at third singles, and Loeys shut down her fourth singles opponent 8-0 in yet another pro set. Hasenhauer won the fifth singles match by a score of 8-1 and Crowe shut out Ursinus's sixth seed 6-0, 6-0.

"The match went really well," said Puri. "Everything came together and we were strong in all respects."

The dominant win should improve the team from a mental standpoint as they gear up for a number of matches in the final week of the season. With numerous make-up matches to play, in addition to the ones the team already had scheduled, this last week should be hectic for the women's team.

"Everything is kind of jumbled together, but we are playing well, and we should continue to do that," said Puri. The women's team will head to Bryn Mawr on Friday and will make up its match against McDaniel by hosting the Green Terror Monday.