By Ryan Bowlin, Contributing Writer
With the fall exhibition season complete, the spring tennis season has started for St. Bonaventure men’s and women’s tennis teams. The matches count now.
Head coach Michael Bates has set the bar for the spring season. One of the team’s biggest goals, according to Bates, is to advance in the Atlantic 10 tournament.
“One of our major goals is getting past the first round of the A10 Championships because that would set us up for postseason success.”
This past weekend the Bona women faced off against the University of Massachusetts and Bryant University.
On Saturday against UMass in Amherst, Massachusetts, UMass swept the Bonnies, 7-0. The Bonnies were without their top player, Penlope Abreu. Sophomore Andre Roque and junior Buse Gunay stayed competitive in their matches. Both came up just short, losing 2-1.
In doubles, each of the Bonnies’ three teams lost by scores of 7-5, 7-6 and 6-3.
Despite the less-than-desirable results, Bates gave his doubles teams high praise.
“We probably played some of the best doubles I have seen us play in the past two years,” Bates said.
With Abreu back in the lineup on Sunday, the Bonnies were able to find some success against the Bryant. The Bonnies split singles with the Bulldogs, 3-3. Freshman Amelia Haley won in straight sets (2-0) while sophomores Abreu and Emily Stanley won their matches in 2-1 decisions.
In doubles, the Bonnies were swept by the Bulldogs 7-6, 6-3 and 6-3. The victory for the Bulldogs was enough for a 4-3 victory on the day.
While the Bonnies were able to win more matches against Bryant, Bates walked away from the weekend more impressed with his team’s ability to compete with a solid UMass program.
“We probably played better against UMass than we did Bryant,” said Bates, mentioning that UMass is one of the top teams in the A10 having won the A10 a few years ago.
The men’s team, on the other hand, faced off against Youngstown State in its home opener on Saturday.
Youngstown State won the match 5-2 after dropping both doubles matches 7-6 and 6-0. The Bonnies also won four of the six singles matches played. Junior Joseph Blakeley and sophomore Martin Estevarena both won their matches 2-1.
While the men’s team has lost two straight matches by a score of 5-2, Bates said he values improvement throughout the season in order to get ready for the A10 Championships. With tough opponents remaining on the team’s schedule, such as Notre Dame and Virginia Tech, the team will have the opportunity to do just that.
“It is not necessarily important that we get into the win column… it is all about improving throughout the year to get ready for the A-10 Championships,” Bates said.
The Men will look to get back to winning ways as they travel to the University at Buffalo on Saturday, February 1 to take on the Bulls (0-2). They will be looking to reach .500 with a win as they sit at 1-2 on the season heading in.
The Bonnies (1-3) travel to the University at Buffalo on Friday, January 31 to take on the Bulls (0-0) before traveling back home to take on Bucknell (0-0) on Saturday.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will be back in action this weekend at University at Buffalo in Williamsville, New York. The women’s team will play Friday at 1 p.m. while the men’s team will play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
bowlinrs19@bonaventure.edu
