Men’s tennis in action. (Sam Powers | Student Life.)

The No. 10 men’s tennis team traveled to the Cleveland area to face four universities, and the No. 17 women’s team flew down to Atlanta to face two conference opponents from March 28-30. 

Men’s Team

On Friday March 28, the men’s team took on their first opponent, John Carroll University (JCU), at their home in University Heights, Ohio. The Bears swept JCU 7-0 without dropping a single set.

In doubles, seniors Stefan Hester and Pato Garcia Muriel won 6-2, juniors Eric Kuo and Colin Fox won 6-2, and junior Colin Scruggs and first-year Drew Koval won 6-1, wrapping up a straightforward doubles point for the Bears.

The six singles matches all finished in two sets. Scruggs, at the No. 1 spot, defeated JCU’s Anthony Markello 6-0, 6-2, setting the tone for the section. First-year Avi Mahajan did not concede a single game, winning 6-0, 6-0, and senior Scott Yamamoto won 6-0, 6-1, concluding a relatively simple match.

On Saturday, WashU faced stiffer competition, going against No. 4 Denison University, where they lost 2-5. The Bears dropped the doubles point to start, with only Hester and Garcia Muriel able to win their match. In the singles portion, Scruggs and Kuo picked up two points for the team, but the other four singles matches went the way of Denison.

Later that afternoon, the Bears faced another ranked opponent: No. 17 Kenyon University. This match ended with a close scoreline of 3-4. Again, the Bears could not pick up the doubles point, with Kuo and Fox winning 6-4 but the other two pairings losing 5-7. Kuo, junior Case Fagan, and Mahajan won their matches, but the Bears dropped the other three, ultimately falling.

To finish out the weekend, WashU faced University Athletic Association (UAA) opponents No. 5 Case Western Reserve University, losing 2-5 on March 30. In the doubles section, while Koval and Yamamoto won, Garcia Muriel and Hester lost in a tiebreak and Kuo and Fox lost their match. Needing four singles points, the Bears then only picked up two via Scruggs and Kuo.

Women’s tennis ended their trip to Atlanta 1-1. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Student Life)

Women’s Team

The women’s journey to Atlanta started on Saturday against No. 6 Carnegie Mellon University, where they defeated the Tartans in a closely contested battle 4-3.

The team’s trip started with the doubles point going to Carnegie Mellon. While sophomore Eleanor Archer and first-year Caitlin Bui, the No. 1 pairing in the country, won their match 6-2, the pairings of juniors Amber Edmonds and Eliana Hanna and first-years Sam Slowik and Chloe Brissett lost.

Down 0-1 heading into the singles portion, the Bears needed four out of six victories to come back. At the No. 2 court, Bui won in straight sets 7-5, 6-2, and Hanna won 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 at the No. 3 spot. First-year Ally Lin won 6-4, 6-2 and sophomore Emily Chiasson won 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to secure the tight 4-3 victory.

Archer spoke on the team’s focus on being loud and feeding off of each other’s energy going into this weekend.

“I think we were louder than both teams we played, and through that, we were able to show how much we wanted it,” she said. “I know that was also a factor in our first match against Carnegie Mellon. We didn’t even have a scoreboard up, so nobody knew the score on any of the courts. So by being vocal, we were able to spread positive energy and just hear people on the other courts, even if they were losing.”

On Sunday, their second match of the weekend was against UAA opponent No. 3 Emory University, a team the Bears have yet to beat. While putting up their closest fight against Emory yet, the Bears still lost 3-4.

In doubles, Archer and Bui defeated Emory’s No. 1 doubles pairing 6-4, but both partnerships of Edmonds and Hanna, and Slowik and Brissett lost, conceding the doubles point to Emory. In singles, Bui, Lin, and junior Nina Moravek picked up three points for the Bears. However, both Hanna and Chiasson fell in three sets, and Emory’s top singles player and national No. 3 Emily Kantrovitz beat out Archer in straight sets to secure the win for the Eagles.

Looking ahead, the Bears and Archer will continue to build morale and a commitment to the season-long process rather than individual results.

“I think we’ll just keep continuing to build team support and emphasizing being willing to embrace long matches,” she said. “I know one of the things we went into each match saying is, ‘We’ll be out here as long as it takes.’ There’s no need to try to rush any match or any point.”

The next challenge for the Bears men’s team comes on April 7 against Principia College and April 10 against Hendrix College before a UAA clash against No. 2 University of Chicago on April 12. The women’s team next travel to the Chicago area to take on North Central College on April 11 and No. 1 Chicago on April 12.