Men's tennis lose second match, team not worried

The men's tennis team lost last weekend in their match against Carnegie Mellon University with a final score of 5-2. Their season record is 0-2.

Coach Chris Barker said, "I'm not worrying about a set lineup until during spring break and the second half of the season when we'll be playing against conference teams."

The lineup against CMU started with number one first-year Tony Choi who lost 6-3, 6-1 to Navioze Marshall. Then, number two senior Koji Ebersole was defeated by Dean Ho 6-2, 7-6 (8-2). At number three, sophomore Sam Steckley crushed his opponent Amit Jaipuriya 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, while at number four, sophomore Andy Kim was overcome by Apurva Rothari 6-3, 6-1. Sophomore Mike O'Connell, at number five, trampled on his opponent Dan Bileo who retired at 5-3 because of injury and sophomore Peter Swendsen fought hard against Ivoro Fife at the number six spot, but didn't finish on top 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

In Doubles, Swendsen and Steckley lost to Marshall and Ho in a tie breaker 9-8 (8-6). The number two, Choi and Kim, were defeated by Jaipuriya and Orife 8-5. At three, Shin and first-year Wes Clapp's efforts to hinder their opponents further assault were halted with a score of 8-2.

Swendsen spoke about what happened in his tough matches. "In singles at least I was happy my serve stayed strong. In the first set I served well enough so I didn't have to hit many long points, but when he got used to my serve, which happens after two hours, I had a hard time getting the groove."

"It was similar in doubles," Swendson said. "Sam and I were pretty pleased with how we played. In the beginning we didn't have many rallies, but when the rallies began the points were well-developed, and it came down to the last shot. We were pleased about the actual points, but the set up didn't always favor us."

Barker's theory about a winning season is "to win routinely at four, five, and six and to gain the doubles point. The first three single's positions will be competitive all season long."

Barker is positive about the season and said, "The strength is even across the board and there is a strong possibility most of our wins will be through the back door."

"The men," he said, "are even, strong and everyone has a great team attitude. It's great and that is why I like coaching this team."

The Oberlin men have a doubleheader this Saturday against Otterbein College and Adrian College.

Let'er rip:This guy may look like he's on top of things, but the team still lost to Carnegie Mellon last Sat. (photo by Mirian Maloney)