No. 2 men’s and No. 17 women’s tennis teams put on a masterclass against North Central and DePauw

| Staff Writer

WashU women’s tennis has defeated every DIII team they’ve faced this season. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Student Life)

After placing second in the 2024 ITA national indoor tennis championship, the No. 2 Washington University men’s tennis team was looking to take this momentum into the outdoor part of the season. They did just that, going 2-0 to start this new part of the season. 

The women’s team, ranked No. 17 in the country, similarly dominated, winning their only match of the weekend 8-1 over North Central College.

The men’s team began the weekend by dominantly defeating North Central 7-2. WashU’s doubles teams started the match strong, going 2-1 against the Cardinals. While the top duo of sophomore Colin Scruggs and senior Gaurav Singh dropped their match 5-8, the second and third duos had strong performances, defeating the Cardinals 8-6 in both matches. 

The Bears continued their winning ways in the singles matches. Despite senior Jared Phillips dropping a close match in the top singles spot, the rest of the singles prevailed, giving WashU a 5-1 advantage in singles matches. Sophomore Eric Kuo was dominant as he won 6-0, 6-1 in second singles. 

The next day, the Bears defeated DePauw University 9-0. Every single Bears player competing won their match, headlined by Phillips and Kuo winning 6-0, 6-0 and 6-2, 6-1 in the top two singles matches. Junior Scott Yamamoto dominated the sixth singles match, winning 6-2, 6-1.

Senior Gaurav Singh won his singles match against North Central in straight sets. (Bri Nitsberg | Student Life)

Looking forward, the Bears will travel to California to play six matches in four days during spring break. 

Kuo said the team is hopeful for the outdoor season. “We are looking to finally reach the potential that we have had for many years,” Kuo said.  

During this daunting stretch of the season, the Bears are looking forward to taking on No. 6 Bowdoin College, which Kuo said “should be their toughest foe of the stretch.” Other ranked opponents the Bears will face on their trip are the No. 25 California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and No. 11 Sewanee: The University of the South, who WashU beat in the first round of the ITA Indoor Nationals on Feb. 23.

The Bears will kick off their spring break trip by facing off against Azusa Pacific University on March 11. 

As good as the men’s team has been this year, the No. 17 women’s tennis team has been arguably just as impressive. The Bears currently sit undefeated against their Division III opponents. While the team has excelled early on, they are staying locked in on the future.

“The team has been focused on our big goals,” senior Maggie Yang said.

The team looked to stay red hot as they faced off against the 13-1 North Central, and that they did. The Bears defeated North Central in dominant fashion 8-1.

North Central came out of the gates strong, winning number one doubles 8-4. But after that WashU dominated, winning the rest of their doubles and singles matches. 

First-year Eleanor Archer and senior Karen Gao started the Bears’ dominant streak as they won their number two doubles match 8-6. Junior Ainsley Heidbreder and sophomore Nina Moravek continued their winning ways as they won their set 8-3. 

WashU turned the notch up during singles as they routed North Central in every match. Specifically, sophomore Amber Edmonds dominated as she won both of her number four singles sets in 6-0 sweeps. 

While the Bears have been dominant, Yang believes that the team “still needs to improve on becoming more adaptable to any circumstance.” 

Just like the men’s team, the women’s team will also spend spring break in California. The Bears will begin their four-game trip in Claremont, California against the top-ranked team in the country, No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on March 11. The team will also play No. 27 Caltech, No. 28 Bowdoin, and No. 31 Chapman University.

This article was updated March 6 at 4:25 pm to reflect updated ITA rankings.

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