W. Tennis now 2-1 in Centennial Conference

Both the women and men's Tennis teams lost their meets this past weekend. Although the women's team lost a tough match to Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, they are still 2-1 in the conference. The men's team record, on the other hand, dropped to 0-4 following their two losses this weekend.

The women's team lost a nail-biter to F&M in Lancaster, Pa. by a score of 5-4. The damp courts and several delays got the match off to a shaky start. Hopkins first doubles team of senior co-captain Cara Loeys and junior Michelle Liang lost 8-4. The second doubles team, freshman Priya Puri and sophomore Amanda Leese, were defeated 8-6. However, Hopkins salvaged the final doubles point with an 8-6 win by sophomore Jill Seidman and freshman Meghan Hasenauer.

Liang defeated the Diplomat's top-ranked singles player 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, but the Jays lost in the the next three singles matches, giving the Dips a victory. Hopkins was without its third singles player, freshman Becky Bucsh, so some players were competing in different positions. Although the match was already decided, Hasenauer and senior Liz Crowe made it close by posting victories in the the fifth and sixth matches. Hasenauer beat F&M's Lizzy Denenberg 6-3, 2-6, 8-6, and Crowe edged Lauren Hakkinen 8-1 in a pro set. The loss was the Jays first in conference play and dropped the team's record to 2-2. The Diplomats improved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

"It was a close match and could have gone either way," said Puri.

"It was a disappointing loss, since F&M is not ranked as highly as the teams we beat," said Loeys.

However, the women will have a chance to redeem themselves this week against Swarthmore and Muhlenberg.

"The key to the matches will be starting out strong with the doubles matches," said Loeys. "We can either start off our singles matches up 3-0 or down 0-3. It takes a lot of the pressure off us if we are in a position to win."

The women's team hosts Swarthmore on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Muhlenberg on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

"These are two really important matches, so we need to keep our spirits up and concentrate on the upcoming matches," said Loeys. "Hopefully, we can rebound from our loss [Saturday] and come out with two wins."

The men's tennis team has struggled early this season due to injuries and a lack of preparation. "We have definitely had our fair share of injuries," said freshman Andrew Chang. "We have had our No. 1 player out twice within the span of the first four matches."

The Jays suffered losses to F&M on Saturday and Goucher on Sunday. Hopkins took two of three doubles matches, but lost five of six singles matches to the Dips, who improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

"Our team tends to be strong in the back half," said Roch. "That can be attributed to our strong freshmen." The Jays lost 5-2 to Goucher on Sunday. The Gophers were playing in their fourteenth match this year, while Hopkins was only in its fifth. Hopkins lost its first and second doubles to give the doubles point to the Gophers. However, the team of senior Aaron Ong and Chang took the third doubles match, 8-2. Hopkins lost the first four singles matches to assure Goucher of a victory.