The Colby Echo

Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Brian DiMento The men's team swept the doubles competitions against Hamilton and reigned 8-1.

On Saturday the men's and women's tennis teams took advantage of the gorgeous weather to defend their home turf against the visiting Hamilton College in one of the final New England Small College Athletic Conference match-ups of the season. Both the men and women's teams defeated their opponents, with the men earning an easy 8-1 victory and the women pulling out a tough 5-4 win.

On the women's side, it was the second and third doubles teams that got the team fired up. The partnerships of Katie Brezinski '11 and Tara Davidson '10 in the second doubles spot and Caroline Reaves '10 and Katherine Koleski '08 in the third doubles spot came out ahead in their matches to give Colby a 2-1 lead going into the singles competition. Davidson, Brezinski and Reaves also each added another win for Colby in the fourth, fifth and sixth singles spots. The Hamilton matches left Coach Doanh Wang in understandably high spirits. "It was a wonderful NESCAC win. After the match, I told the women I was extremely proud to be their coach. They represented Colby tennis, and the Colby community as a whole, with such class. They really deserved the victory."

Saturday also marked an excellent performance for the men. In their dominant 8-1 win over Hamilton College, they managed to again sweep the doubles matches. Captain Zack Schuman '08 and teammate Bryan Brown '09 set the tone early with an impressive 8-4 win at number one doubles. The second and third doubles teams of Michael Johnsen '11 and Tim Fuhriman '09 and Dylan Jaffee '11 and Nick Rosen-Wachs '09 followed this lead by winning 8-3 and 8-5 respectively. In the singles competitions, wins by Brown, Fuhriman, Rosen-Wachs, Johnsen, and Scott Zeller '09 rounded out the remaining Colby points. With this win the men improved to 4-3 in NESCAC play and 8-5 overall.

As if two great wins were not enough to round out Saturday, the teams honored their senior players for their contributions throughout the last four years. For the women, it was Koleski who received the cheers and thanks of her teammates. Koleski, who hails from Rochester, Mass., was one of the few experienced players on this year's team and she was recognized for her contributions, especially in the doubles competition. For the men, the honor went to Schuman, who has been a key contributor to the men's team all season. When asked about his captain, Wang said, "I think one of the best moments of this weekend was when we had just finished our match versus Bowdoin and I asked Zack if he had anything to say to the team. He simply said, 'Thank you.' And Bryan Brown, who had just lost an emotional three set match at number one singles, turned to Zack, and replied back, 'Thank you.' That is how I see Zack's contribution."

Although Sunday's matches against Bowdoin College ended with tough losses for both teams, the weekend as a whole was clearly considered a success. "This weekend was a good weekend for Colby tennis. We could not have asked for better weather, fan support, and individual effort from our players," Wang concluded.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools