By Trevor Willett, Contributing Writer
This past weekend the St. Bonaventure University men’s and women’s tennis teams played Army and Colgate. The men’s team lost 4-0 against Army, and 5-2 against Colgate. Although the end result was not what the Bonnies were looking for, the experience gained from playing these non-conference opponents was valuable.
The women’s team, who only played against Colgate, came ready to play. The team won all of its doubles matches and lost only one of its singles matches for a 6-1 victory. The victory comes after a shutout win against Bucknell at home the previous week.
The women’s team’s success against Colgate, according to head coach Michael Bates, stemmed from its ability to make adjustments.
Going into the match against Colgate , the women’s team wanted to repeat what they accomplished last season.
“I really liked the environment, “ said sophomore Paula Velilla. “We went there thinking it would be harder than last year, but we didn’t think we would win again 6-1 because it was definitely harder.”
The women’s team has bigger ambitions, though. As a whole, along with the men’s team, both teams would like to succeed in Atlantic 10 Conference play.
Leading up to these matches, Bates said both teams really tried to put an emphasis on doubles play. Captains Lukas Malmberg and John Rutkowski for the men’s team, both seniors, earned high praise from their coach.,
“We are trying to prepare for the rest of the season,” Bates said. “ It’s tough competition we are going to play, and we do that on purpose to get ready, it’s not about our wins and loses but more about preparing us for A10s.”
Many of the players on the men’s team have played at Army earlier during their fall invitational. Two years ago, some of the players went against Colgate as well.
Although the matches against Colgate were held at an indoor club in Syracuse, New York, Bates said, “We are used to playing indoors. We are used to playing at all these places…not any different from anything we do.”
Playing a lot of matches on the road isn’t anything new for the Bonnies. The team has played its last five matches on the road.
The men’s team will look to turn things around with long road trips to Virginia Tech and then Notre Dame.
The women’s team will look to extend its winning streak to three, as Binghamton comes to Olean for a Feb. 16 match at the St. Bonaventure Tennis Center. Binghamton defeated the Bonnies last season 5-2.
willettr19@bonaventure.edu
