The Goshen College tennis teams wrapped up their regular seasons this past Saturday. Competing against Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, Goshen’s women fell 9-0, while the men were edged 5-4 by the hosting Trojans.
The women’s team looked to play their way into the conference tournament with a win, but weren’t able to find their footing against the conference’s fourth-ranked team. Seniors Noemi Salvador, Chelsea Katchmazenski and Joelle Friesen, sophomores Kendra Lozano and Chloe Woodward and first-year Megan Ewing all fell in straight sets in singles play. The doubles teams were defeated 8-1.The singles scores were 6-2, 6-0; 6-0, 6-0; 6-0, 6-2; 6-0, 6-1; 6-0, 6-2; 6-0 and 6-0. The loss eliminated the Leafs from competing in the conference tournament and dropped the team’s record to 0-10 (0-8 in conference) for the season.
The men were nearly able to snap their three-match losing streak and knock off the conference’s third ranked team before the Trojans pulled out a narrow victory. After the Trojans won two of the three doubles matches, the teams split the singles matches 3-3, giving the Trojans the 5-4 match victory. Sophomore Eric Zuercher, first-year Juan Miguel Ciudad and senior Eric Cender grabbed victories at second, fourth and fifth singles. Junior Aritha Weerasinghe, sophomore Kartikeya Sharma and first-year Evan Beck fell at first, third and sixth singles respectively. Sharma was defeated in a tiebreak in both sets in the deciding match.
The singles scores were 6-2, 6-1; 6-1, 1-6, 6-2; 7-6, 7-6; 1-6, 6-3, 6-4; 6-2, 2-6, 7-6; 6-4 and 6-1. With the loss, Goshen’s record falls to 4-8 (3-5 in conference) for the season. The Leafs are off until Tuesday, October 4, when the conference tournament is scheduled to begin.
