Tennis team spends long hours on court

Whoever said "practice makes perfect" hasn't seen the Oberlin's men's tennis team. They have had a very full week of tennis, playing four matches in six days and hardly practicing in between. Despite the old adage, the Yeomen are at the top of their game.

Saturday the Yeomen hosted a double header, Monday they hosted a make-up match, Tuesday they traveled to Kenyon, and Thursday they left Oberlin for the NCAC tournament. First-year Peter Swendsen said, "It's been pretty crazy."

Saturday the Yeomen hosted Allegheny College and Wittenberg University for a 12- hour tennis extravaganza. The Yeomen lost to the Gators in an early morning match 6-1, with the lone win coming from senior Adam Shoemaker who holds the number one singles number one spot.

Allegheny went on to play and beat Wittenberg. The Yeomen then took the court again, this time facing the Tigers. The morning loss inspired the Yeomen to trounce the Tigers in a 5-2 match. The team scored wins in the first, second, fourth, and sixth singles spots and went two for three in doubles.

On Monday the team hosted yet another match, this one a make-up for the stormed-out April 13 match at the College of Wooster. In early April the team was blanked by Wooster 7-0. Their rapid improvement in the past few weeks was demonstrated in the tough competition they gave Wooster. Head coach Chris Barker said, "We played them tough, it was a good match."

Sam Stickley, Peter Swendsen, and Mike O'Connell, a trio of first-years, contributed wins in singles, leaving Oberlin and Wooster tied 3-3. Shoemaker and junior Koji Ebersole paired up as the dynamic duo in doubles. Unfortunately, Oberlin lost the other two doubles contests. The match ended in a 4-3 loss for Oberlin, bringing their record to 9-8.

For their last regular season match, the Yeomen traveled to Kenyon College on Tuesday. Barker said, "We've been playing a lot better. We had a real down on Tuesday against Kenyon. We were worn out from previous matches and the conditions were archaic."

The match ended 6-1 in favor of Kenyon, with Shoemakeragain contributing the only win. This brought the Yeomen's regular season record down to the .500 mark. Barker said, "Our record is not at all indicative of how good of a team we are. With all of these freshmen who are strong players, things are looking good for the next few years."

Oberlin's record is good enough to secure a spot in the NCAC tournament this weekend. Even though the Yeomen's conference record is 1-6, they are tied with Wittenberg University and Ohio Wesleyan University for the sixth spot. Eight teams in the NCAC will be traveling to Ohio Wesleyan for two days of play-offs. The team has been looking forward to this weekend all season. Swendsen said, "We've all actually been playing really well."

Barker said, "I think they're as ready as they can be. They realize that they don't need to worry about winning or losing. They just need to play their game. I don't think there's any team they can't play with."