Tennis Tours Southern States
by Ian Haynes

Oberlin’s men’s and women’s tennis teams toured the South over Spring Break, taking on teams from Tennessee to Florida. Both teams first traveled to Tennessee to take on Maryville College then moved across the state to Sewanee to take on the University of the South. The teams then made their way to Georgia where the women took on Emory University and the men took on Oglethorpe University. Finally, both teams made their way to Florida to take on Flagler College, but that match was rained out.
The women started their Spring Break on the right foot by crushing Maryville 9-0. No singles match went more than two sets, with the Yeowomen taking all six singles matches easily. In doubles, the first doubles team of junior Sarah Jesse and sophomore Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz won 8-2 as did the second doubles team of senior Beth Krupski and first-year Becka Buurma. Third doubles, made up of sophomore Laura Koehn and junior Lindsay Butler, also won by a score of 8-6.
The women’s team then made their way across Tennessee to take on the University of the South. Though they lost 8-1, coach Don Hunsinger said that they played a solid match. “Against the University of the South everyone played well. The scores weren’t reflective of the games,” Hunsinger said.
The lone point for Oberlin came from Jesse playing first singles. She defeated her opponent in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Fotiu-Wojtowicz won the first set in second singles but lost in three sets to her opponent. It was the only match of the day to go three sets.
“[Jesse] has been the expected win for the team all year and she came through against the University of the South,” Fotiu-Wojtowicz said.
The Yeowomen then made their way to Georgia to take on Emory University. “Emory is the best Division III team that the women have ever played,” Hunsinger said, “We dominated Maryville like Emory dominated us.” Oberlin lost 9-0 to Emory, but Hunsinger said that a lot of the players had their best matches of the year. “[Jesse’s] opponent won the Rolex Championships in the fall and could play at any Division I school she wanted to. There were a lot of good games and a lot went to deuce, but she was just playing a superior opponent,” Hunsinger said. He went on to add that there were no chinks in her armor, that she was a solid player all around.
“[Fotiu-Wojtowicz] I think played one of her best matches of the year too and she lost 6-1, 6-0,” Hunsinger said. “That should tell you the quality of the team Emory is.” This trip was a good trip not just for playing tennis but for team bonding,” Hunsinger added.
The Wednesday before break, the Yeowomen took on Hiram College in the first match of the North Coast Athletic Conference season. Oberlin won 6-0 in a match shortened due to time. “They only had two courts and it was late and the match was decided so not everyone finished,” Hunsinger said.
Oberlin easily won every match played. First-year Nabilah Talib got her first win of the year in sixth singles by defeating her opponent in three sets, 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4. “[Talib] won the first set easy, lost the second one in a tie breaker and played a great third match to get the win,” Hunsinger said.
This past Tuesday, the Yeowomen traveled to Ohio Wesleyan for the second conference match of the year. Again Oberlin dominated, winning 7-2 in poor weather conditions. The win moved them to 2-0 in conference play on the year. “The wind was crazy at Ohio Wesleyan,” Fotiu-Wojtowicz said, “It was like stepping into a wind tunnel to play, but people didn’t let it bother them and played well.”
“[Butler] struggled a little bit. She played well the first set but let the second set slip away from her, but the rest of the team rolled,” Hunsinger said.
The Yeowomen travel to Hope College to play in the Great Lakes Championships this weekend. “The tour of the South was good preparation for this weekend. I think Ohio Wesleyan was a good indicator of what we did in the South,” Hunsinger said, “This is a big weekend for the women. If we play well we have a good chance at qualifying for the Midwest Regionals again this year.”
The men’s tour of the South began more roughly than the women’s. The men fell to Maryville in a close match 4-3 despite solid singles play all around. Maryville was able to capture the sole point in doubles for the win. Winning points for Oberlin in the first match of the “tour” were first year Jamie Frankel playing first singles, senior Mike Shelton playing third singles and first year Marion Bocek playing fourth singles. All three won in straight sets.
“Maryville was a much improved team. It was a very even match where one or two plays decided the match and they just wanted it more than us,” Hunsinger said.
The Yeomen also played the University of the South in the next match. “We played well, but they were just a better team,” Hunsinger said of the University of the South.
Oberlin was swept 7-0 in the match to a team that could be nationally ranked by the end of the year. “There is a good chance that the University of the South could be ranked in the top 10 nationally by the end of the year,” Frankel said.

The last match that the Yeomen played on the trip was in Georgia against Oglethorpe University. The Yeomen were able to end their “tour” on a good note by sweeping Oglethorpe 7-0.
“Against Oglethorpe we were the quality team. We had guys who played well that day and we kicked their butt,” Hunsinger said. Frankel, senior Ben Fox (second singles), Shelton, Bocek and sophomores Ashvin Raj and Matt Fairbanks all won their singles matches in straight sets, except for Bocek who took three sets to win but destroyed his opponent 6-0 in the last set for victory.
The Saturday before break, the Yeomen took on Mount Union College. Oberlin captured victory in a solid, 4-3 win over the Purple Raiders, a team who beat them the year before.
After losing the doubles point, the Yeomen won the first four singles matches in straight sets to shut out Mount Union.

“Mount Union was a great match for us. Last year we lost to them and they returned almost the same team this year. Singles really stepped up after losing the doubles point. This was our best match of the year,” Hunsinger said.
The Yeomen then opened NCAC league play the Wednesday before break by stomping Hiram 7-0. Oberlin soundly won all three doubles matches and all six singles matches in the trouncing of Hiram.
This past Tuesday, Oberlin took on John Carroll University in the second meeting of the year between the two teams. The Yeomen easily won the first meeting between the two teams but this time around it was John Carroll who won easily. John Carroll took all three doubles matches before Oberlin briefly took the lead 2-1 when Frankel and Fox both won their singles matches. John Carroll then won the next four singles matches for the 5-2 victory.
“If Mount Union was our best match of the year, John Carroll was our worst match of the year as a team,” Hunsinger said.
The men travel to Wabash College for the GLCA Championships on Friday and Saturday. “This weekend should be a good test for us to see how we stand for the rest of the season,” Frankel said.