By Mal Vishwanath
Men’s and women’s tennis teams showed a remarkable start to their spring season.
Both teams have only one loss on their record, after competing in 5 tournaments at the PTR Spring Tennisfest at Hilton Head, South Carolina.The matches began on March 8, with the men defeating Ohio Northern University, with a score of 7-2, and falling to Eastern Nazarene College during the very last match, with a score of 5-4. The men were aided by Salikh Gilmutdinov (’18), and Geoffrey Diehl (’20), who won both their singles and doubles matches.
On the women’s side, the Rangers were victorious over Eastern Nazarene College with a score of 8-1. Ashley Camel (’20), Maria Navas Espinal (’20), Ty Ty Witten (’19), and Jessica Cheng (’17) mirrored the performance of the men, with each of them winning both their singles and doubles matches.
On March 9, four Rangers, Gilmutdinov, Diehl, Will Morrison (’19), and Vineet Vemulapally (’19) won both their singles and doubles matches, with Gilmutdinov, Diehl and Morrison posting perfect 6-0, 6-0 scores.
This led the team to a substantial victory over Thomas More College, with a score of 8-1. The women’s team did not disappoint, as they won a well fought match against Sweet Briar College, with a score of 5-4.
Camel, and Witten, won their singles and doubles matches, in addition to Navas Espinal emerging victorious in the singles category. Cristina Riccio (’20) and Christina Christodoulou (’20) came together to post victories in the doubles category.March 10, the last match for both teams in the PTR Spring Tennisfest proved to be a victorious day for the Rangers.
Both the men and women carried the previous day’s momentum forward, with the men besting Penn State Behrend with a score of 7-2. The women adding a fifth match to their winning streak, winning against Defiance College with a score of 9-0. Witten, Camel, Cheng, Navas Espinal, Riccio and Christodoulou all won their doubles matches, with Camel and Navas Espinal winning their singles matches as well. Also winning their singles matches were Megan Jarvis (’17), Kathryn Swenor (’18), Xylia Bruff (’19), and Sarah Noel Juene (’20).The hard earned victories of both teams proved to be a force to reckon with, as the Rangers swept the tennis Landmark Athletes of the Week awards on March 13.
Camel and Gilmutdinov, were both chosen as the Landmark Athlete of the Week for the second time, with Camel posting a 7-2 overall record in singles and doubles play, and Gilmutdinov posting a 8-1 record in singles and doubles play.
The women’s tennis team will return to the court today, where they will battle John Jay College at 4 p.m while the men will play tomorrow
