Men’s tennis finally breaks the ice on spring season

Over the weekend, the Boston University men’s tennis team notched its first victory of the spring, defeating the University of Rhode Island 5-1 and improving its record to 3-6 on the season.

The Terriers came out strong, winning the first three team points.

In doubles play, the three BU doubles teams won their matches 8-6, 8-6 and 8-1 to post the first Terrier point of the day against the Rams (4-9).

“The doubles team has been playing very well,” said BU coach Jeremy Taylor. “We’ve never been good with doubles points in the past, so props to the doubles teams.”

Senior Geoffrey Wagner opened the successful singles play for the Terriers, winning his match 6-4, 6-2. In the second spot, freshman Barrett Wolf earned a point when Rams coach John Spears lifted his player in the third set, despite leading the match.

The only Ram point on the day came when Nick Barbera defeated junior Nick Ganias in the third tilt 6-3, 7-6. In the fourth spot, freshman Uri Seiser had to win a decisive tie breaker, 10-2, after splitting sets in order to earn the Terriers a point. Senior Adam Siegel cruised in the fifth tilt, winning 6-3, 6-2 before freshman Ross Lohr made quick work of his opponent, 6-0, 6-2, completing his match in approximately 40 minutes.

“[Lohr] gave a lesson out there with his match,” Taylor said. “He has great fight in him and Wagner has great leadership. The rest of the team needs to model after these two.

“I hope this match serves as a catalyst for us after losing the past couple squeakers that I don’t think we should have lost,” Taylor continued. “Hopefully this win sends us forward. The season begins now.”

The team next plays Friday at the University of Vermont (10-10) in what could be one of the last matches between the schools, as the Catamounts are scheduled to fold at the end of the season.

“We go back and forth with [the Catamounts]. They got us this year, and we got them last year,” Taylor said. “We’re certainly looking for a ‘W’ there.”

The Terriers then travel north of the border Saturday to face the University of Montreal, a team that defeated BU last year and that Taylor feels “is getting stronger each year.”

The women’s team (10-5) followed the men’s victory with a win of its own, defeating Yale University 5-2 on Sunday.

The Bulldogs (4-10) started the day strong, taking the doubles point with victories at the number one spot, 8-6, over BU senior Lindsey Dynof and freshman Erin Katims and at the second tilt, 8-4, over senior Elena deMendoza and sophomore Aimee Charest.

However, the Terriers proceeded to take over the match in singles play. BU recorded five straight points, winning the first through fifth spots, before falling in the final tilt.

At the top spot, Dynof defeated Yale’s Karlyn Martin 6-3, 6-4. In the second match, deMendoza cruised, winning her match 6-1, 6-1. Katims continued her superb rookie season, winning the number three tilt 6-3, 6-2. Senior Elisa Glas and sophomore Laura Ahmes finished out the Terrier victory, winning their respective matches at the fourth spot 6-4, 6-0 and the fifth spot 8-5.

“We went into this match hoping win the doubles, but they didn’t play very well,” said BU coach Lesley Sheehan. “However we had very strong singles, which helped us win this match.”

The tandem of Glas and Ahmes provided the only doubles victory, as they won their match 8-3, improving their doubles record to 6-3 on the season.

“[Glas and Ahmes] have been playing exceptionally well,” said BU coach Lesley Sheehan. “Their doubles especially have been very good.”

Yale’s only other point came when Stephanie White defeated Charest 8-2 at sixth singles.

The Terriers next play on Saturday when they travel to Dartmouth College (10-3).

“They’re a strong team,” Sheehan said. “We need to work on doubles and get them stronger. That way we can start on a positive note. We have a very good chance of knocking them off.”