tennis
October 1, 2026
GC hosts ITA regionals for first time
Goshen College hosted the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s NAIA regional tournament from Wednesday through Friday. While none of the Maple Leafs won any of the events, GC finished runner-up in three of the four competitions. This is the first time that GC has hosted the event, which is one of the most important tournaments of the year for the Leafs. Winners from the regional ITA tournaments travel to Rome, Georgia for the national tournament. “It’s a huge deal to be able to host it, and for us to have the facilities to host,” Jon Bemisderfer, head coach for men’s and women’s...
October 9, 2025
Fonte returns to action
From missing last year with an injury to winning out of the gate, Maria Clara Fonte, sophomore computer science major, is ready for her first official season with the Goshen College tennis team. Last year, Fonte suffered an ACL tear in her right knee before the season could begin. “I had never been injured before,” she said. “It was a lot of highs and lows.” She said that she had lots of people around her supporting her during the time she was injured. Luckily, the injury does not seem to be affecting how she performs this year. “She played like...
September 12, 2024
Goshen tennis back on home courts
Tennis has once again returned to Goshen College with both mens’ and womens’ teams kicking off their season last week. After promising opening week results, an injection of fresh blood into the program and being back at home in front of an excited student section, team morale is high with both players and staff hoping to achieve big things this season. The team’s home opener was last week against Spring Arbor. Both teams picked up victories, with the men winning 6-1 and the women winning 5-2. For the men, this was a one sided affair, with all of Goshen’s victories...
October 5, 2023
Tennis changes its home court
A lot can change in a year, and the Goshen College tennis teams have gotten used to staying on their toes both on and off the court. For starters, less than a week before the season began, Jon Bemisderfer began his role as director of tennis, taking on the coaching of both teams. In addition to having a new coach, the teams had to travel for their games — even the home matches. Due to the poor condition of the GC tennis courts, the teams moved their home games to Goshen Junior High School, for at least this year. The...
September 14, 2023
Tennis adjusts to injuries, new coach
Men’s and women’s tennis are trusting in their early season improvements and new coaching adjustments to set themselves up for conference play. Last year the men’s and women’s tennis teams finished their seasons 7-6 and 4-9 respectively and have set bigger goals this season. The men’s team had a tough start against two conference powerhouses, losing to Grace College and Huntington University, teams who finished first and second respectively in last season’s conference standings. The men’s team is currently 1-4-1 after beating Spring Arbor, with their draw coming against Judson in a match cut short by lighting. The women’s team...
March 23, 2023
Tennis opens spring with victory
Last Saturday, the Goshen College men’s and women’s tennis teams started off their spring season with a win. The teams traveled to Terre Haute, Indiana where they competed against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The teams competed indoors, since the temperature was in the low 20s. The men competed with a full lineup of six, while the women went in short-handed with four players, since three players were unable to compete. Meaghan Godzisz starts her serve. Photo contributed by Justin DeWeese Despite having to forfeit courts, the women still pulled ahead, beating Rose-Hulman 5-4. The men won as well, coming away...
March 23, 2023
Atkinson resigns as tennis coach
After seven years of coaching men’s and women’s tennis, Goshen College’s director of tennis, Evan Atkinson, resigned on Monday. “It’s bittersweet,” he said. “I always thought I would be a part of this community until I died.” Atkinson told the team of his decision after their match last Saturday, but officially handed in his resignation Monday. “He loves the team,” said Hannah McCoy, a senior tennis player, “and he loves the program, so it kind of just came out of nowhere.” Atkinson said that he believes his decision to resign, though difficult, is the right decision for him and the...
March 16, 2023
Athletics mid-season check-in
Now that Goshen College students have returned from spring break, spring sports are fully underway, with many teams reaching critical points in their seasons. Here’s a look into what they’ve accomplished so far, as well as what’s to come. The softball team is currently on a five-game win streak, after finishing up their spring break trip in Florida with three wins and two more yesterday against Bethel. They are currently 10-5 after the doubleheader victories. Neither game was close: The Leafs trounced the Pilots by 9-3 and 16-5 to put them at two wins and zero losses in conference play....
February 16, 2023
Fight with Filer: Journey of a young tennis star
Editor’s note: David Filer passed away peacefully on March 12 at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, surrounded by loved ones. Game, set, match: In tennis, each word marks steps along a journey. For 16-year-old David Filer, tennis itself was the beginning of a remarkable journey. In recent years, Filer has been a regular sight on Goshen College’s tennis courts. He showed an incredible talent for the sport from a very young age and while being a nationally-recognized prospect, began training with GC’s team. However, his playing stalled in February last year when he was diagnosed with cancer. Filer has...
October 13, 2022
Tennis season ends on high note
Two weeks ago, the Goshen College tennis teams competed at the four-day Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Small College Regional Midwest tournament at Indiana Wesleyan University. “You wake up as a team and you go to bed as a team,” said senior Kevin Bollmann. “You spend basically 24 hours together…and that support showed on the court.” In what head coach Evan Atkinson called “some of [their] best tennis,” Goshen College closed its season by winning two tournaments with strong performances in multiple others while competing against over 200 of the best NAIA players in the Midwest. Sude Aytekin won three of her...
September 15, 2022
Men’s tennis bests IWU for first time since 2016
Since the last time the Goshen College men’s tennis team defeated Indiana Wesleyan University, six years ago, the Leafs were 0-8 with a combined score of 9 to 48. Last Wednesday evening, under the lights of Goshen’s tennis complex, Filippo Gallo won a decisive third-set tiebreak and changed that all. With his comeback 3-6, 6-3, (10-6) win in a super-tiebreak, Gallo scored the fourth and clinching point for the Maple Leafs in a massive 4-3 upset of the perennial powerhouse IWU. “I was so happy,” Gallo said. “I was thinking about what an achievement it was. We’d also come back...