Tennis teams continue success
The University of Indianapolis’ men’s tennis team swept Franklin College Feb. 27, posting a 9-0 victory.
The men’s tennis team’s perfect start to the spring season ended Feb. 19 with a 9-0 loss to Wayne State University, thus bringing their cumulative record to 5-3.
UIndy’s tennis teams started off the spring season with two wins against a team recently added to the conference, Illinois-Springfield. The final score was men’s 6-3 and women 7-2. On Feb. 14, the Greyhounds men’s team shut out Rose-Hulman with a 9-0 victory.
“The momentum is big. Confidence is a big factor in carrying us into tougher matches,” Head Coach John Venter said.
The Greyhounds are a young team this year, comprised mostly of freshmen and sophomores. Four men, Werner Henning, Jeff Price, Alex Poe and David Schoch, have accumulated an unbeaten record this year,.
The Greyhounds will be traveling to Orlando during the week of spring break to play Minnesota State, Eckerd, Michigan State, Mesa State and Grand Valley State.
“These are all Division II matches chosen to get us ready for conference competition and to improve our Division II winning percentage as well as our regional ranking,” Venter said.
The competition for NCAA tournament berths are tight. Currently UIndy ranks tenth in the region; eight are chosen for the tournament.
Since doubles is more teamwork oriented, it takes effort on both parts.
“We could improve on how we work together in matches, especially doubles, as we will be playing with each other for years to come,” said sophomore Taylor Broda.
Keeping the team’s winning percentage is important to NCAA criteria, but over all the percentage isn’t as important as improving the game according to coach Venter. Currently the team’s record stands at 4-3 after losing to Wayne State University on Feb. 19.
The women’s team also swept Franklin College Feb. 27, giving them a perfect 2-0 record on the young spring season.
The six women all defeated their opponents in singles play.
The women’s tennis team started off their spring season with a Feb. 6 win against Illinois-Springfield. They had wins in two of three doubles matches.
“Starting off with a win was a great way to start out the spring season. It was a big match for the team and I’m really happy I could do my part to help us start the year off with a win,” said sophomore Meghan Teunis.
Doubles partners, sophomores Alena Perez-Majul and Maggie Ashby, led UIndy with a score of 8-3. Sophomore Lee Matthews, playing No. 2 singles, defeated against her opponent 6-2, 7-6. Teunis played No. 3 singles winning with a score of 6-1, 6-3. Junior Kelsey Hartman finished off the wins at no. 5 singles 6-2, 6-1.
“I am looking forward to playing a lot of good matches and hoping that both myself and the team can have a winning record,” Teunis said.
