The belief that was instilled into the men’s tennis team after its win against the University of Rochester on Feb. 14 continued to drive its match as it beat another quality team Feb. 27. The Bombers and St. Lawrence University both came into the match with a 1–0 record looking for their second win of the season.
The day started off strong for the Blue and Gold as they were victorious in two out of the three double matches by final scores of 8–4 and 8–6.
Freshman Michael Gardiner fought hard against Saints junior Dean Sponholz as he was down 2–5 in the third set of his singles match. Gardiner picked up momentum and won five games in a row to win the match.
Senior Chris Hayes said Gardiner’s match is a testament to who he is as a player.
“It was a very gutsy performance. That’s just the best way to describe it,” Hayes said. “He was down so much but was still able to come through and clinch the match for us. It says a lot about him as a player and never giving up.”
The women’s team also played the Saints and came into the match looking to keep its undefeated record of 11–0. The South Hill squad ultimately fell to Saints with a score of 8–1.
The team lost all three doubles matches with scores of 8–3, 8–6 and 8–5.
Junior Haley Kusak had the only win of the day for the Bombers in her singles match against Saints sophomore with scores of 7–6, 7–6 and 10–8. Kusak lost the second set, but was able to come back in the third set to secure the win. With this win, Kusak has an 11–0 record in the first singles slot.
Kusak said the match was a hard-fought win, but that it felt good to come out on top.
“It was a really good feeling winning that match. It was a very long match, and it is the first time I have won in singles against St. Lawrence,” Kusak said. “It is definitely an accomplishment to be 11–0 knowing that it was such a close match Saturday.”
Freshman Shayna Ginster also fought hard after winning her first set in her singles match, but lost the second and third sets with scores of 6–4, 7–6 and 10–6.
The women will play next March 6 against William Smith College and Rochester Institute of Technology in Geneva, New York. The men will start their set matches after spring break by playing Hobart College on March 24 in Geneva, New York.
