BY ANDREW HALE, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The St. Bonaventure University men’s and women’s tennis teams were in action this past weekend with the men’s team beginning their season at the Navy Invitational tournament. The women’s team, on the other hand, played in their second tournament in two weeks at the University at Buffalo Invitational.
The men’s team, which consists of four freshmen, three juniors and two seniors, found some success in singles action. Freshmen Anargha Ganguly, Hugo Cochlin and Connor Turner all picked up wins for the Bonnies in their first matches against college competition.
Ganguly took home two wins in his Bonnies debut, beating Makkijha Brown of Morgan State, 6-3, 6-2, and Andrew Immink of Fairfield, 6-3, 6-0. Cochlin also picked up two wins, defeating Nick Spera from Mary Washington, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, and Morgan State’s Bertin Karenzi, 6-2, 6-3.
Turner picked up three wins over the weekend, defeating Charles Wood, from Morgan State, 6-4, 6-0, Hayden Postin from George Mason, 7-6, 6-2 and Navy’s Cy McLeod 6-3, 6-4.
Juniors Jean Marrero and Norka Sanchez also found themselves victorious over the weekend. Marrero defeated Mary Washington’s Andrew Watson, coming back 4-6, 7-6, 10-2. His second victory came after George Mason’s Rishib Sardana withdrew from the match.
Sanchez’s only singles win of the weekend came against Jacob Pfab of Mary Washington, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Senior Luke Riemann also got a win for the Bonnies after Andrei Oprisor of Fairleigh Dickinson withdrew.
As for the doubles side of the tournament, two Bonaventure pairs were able to tally wins over the weekend. Marrero and freshman Rasmus Egehus were victorious in three of their four matches.
Marrero and Egehus defeated teams from George Mason and Morgan State with their final win coming after Navy withdrew from the match.
The freshmen pairing of Cochlin and Turner had a, 6-4, win over Alvaro Pedraza and Monil Lotlikar from George Mason. Lastly, Sanchez and Reimann took down Navy’s Aniketh Ayinala and Jeffrey Etterbeek, 6-1.
Even though the Navy Invitational was the first time that the four freshmen had played against college competition, St. Bonaventure head coach Michael Bates said he is optimistic about where the team is headed.
“They did well, they saw what the competition was like, and I think they see what they need to work on,” Bates said. “This gives us a little bit of a blueprint for the rest of the fall.”
The men next compete at the Army Invitational in West Point on Sept. 30 – Oct. 2.
While the men’s team was in Annapolis, Maryland, over the weekend, the women’s team traveled up to Buffalo to compete in their second tournament of the year at the UB Invitational.
Unlike the Navy Invitational, the UB Invitational was the first time the women got to compete together as a team. At the tournament, the Bonnies had matches against Niagara and Buffalo.
“It was interesting to see the dynamics between the players and how we support each other,” freshman Isabella Venter said. “It was really nice because it was the first-time tennis felt like a team sport since it’s usually very individual.”
At the UB Hidden Duals, the Bonnies doubles teams defeated the Purple Eagles, 6-1. A St. Bonaventure doubles squad consisting of junior Anastasia Gubanova and Venter defeated Niagara, 6-3, at the first flight. Freshman Kashish Bote and sophomore Alexandra Jansson were also victorious at the second flight to secure the Bonnies their doubles win.
“My doubles game has definitely improved,” Venter said. “College doubles are on another level from what I was used to, and I think overall my ability to play doubles, and what I’ve been exposed to in terms of doubles, has become much better.”
Venter was also triumphant in singles play as she defeated her Niagara opponent by the scores of 6-4, 6-2. Senior Amelia Haley, freshman Kelly Barnes, Gubanova, and Bote also picked up victories giving the Bonnies the win over the Purple Eagles.
In Bonaventure’s second and final match against Buffalo, they did not see the same success as they were defeated, 6-1. After close finishes in singles and doubles matches, the Bonnies only win came from Gubanova as she defeated her opponent 7-5, 6-4, at third flight singles.
“I thought we matched up well against Niagara, but as for Buffalo we had our chances,” Bates said. “We easily could’ve come away with a couple more wins but they’re [Buffalo] very tough competition.”
Even though the Bonnies only came away with one win against Buffalo, Venter and her doubles partner, Gubanova, were able to appreciate the atmosphere at the tournament.
“Since we were the last couple to be playing before the singles started, everyone who was there was watching our doubles match,” Venter said. “There was just this moment of ‘Wow, everyone is watching us, and we are playing tennis in front of all these people,’ and it was a really great atmosphere.”
The women’s tennis team will travel to Princeton, New Jersey on Sept. 30 where they will participate in the ITA Regionals tournament.
halea22@bonaventure.edu
