Men's tennis continues to approach but not deliver

Yeomen fall to frustrating 2-16 record

The Oberlin men's tennis team needs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but their racket strings seem to be in the way.

The team's record is 2-16.

Oberlin lost matches in the past week to Allegheny College 5-2, Wittenberg University 4-3, the College of Wooster 7-0 and Case Western Reserve University 4-1.

"The season has been both fun and frustrating," Coach Chris Barker said. "Fun because we have such a great bunch of guys who like and respect each other, work hard to improve, and keep the game and their academics in proper perspective. Frustrating because we are much better than our 2-16 record indicates."

Co-captain junior Sam Steckley agreed. "We played some teams this week that I believe we have a very good chance of beating if we get the chance to play them again," Steckley said. Some players expressed frustration at the losses.

"Wittenberg was a nice team: classy, polite, and beatable. But we lost. Allegheny, should have won. Well, maybe not should have won, but definitely could have won," first-year Brendan Mislan said.

Co-captain Peter Swendsen joined in Mislin's sentiment. "With the exception of Wooster, one of the top teams in the conference, our last few matches have been against teams we can beat. These are encouraging because we all played well and realize that we can beat any of these teams," Swendsen said. "Because the scores are closer, though, it's a little more frustrating to lose those matches."

In the matches against Allegheny, Case Western and Wittenberg, first-year Jed Greenberg won the number two singles match. Against Case Western, he scored the only point. Junior Michael O'Connell who played number three singles, also won against Allegheny and Wittenberg. Steckley won against Wittenberg playing number four singles.

Mislin praised Greenberg's play in his match against Case Western Wednesday. "Jed's match was incredible," Mislin said. "Everybody lost except Jed at number-two singles who smoked his opponent 6-1, 6-0."

Barker expects that Greenberg will continue to get better as his tenure at Oberlin continues. "He's one of the top three or four number-two singles players in the conference I think. And he and his doubles partner, Brendan Mislin, are also improving as a doubles team. Look for great things from them over the course of their OC careers," Barker said.

The team plays their last conference match before the NCAC Tournament, May 1-2, Saturday vs. Ohio Wesleyan University at home.

Not half bad: A Yeoman serves in a recent match. Although their record is 2-16, the team has been settling improving and keeping their spirits up. Last week the team was one point away from victory. (file photo)