Down at the tennis court

With the coming of spring, an upswing in the mood on campus is quite tangible. Students are flying high on the recent stint of sunshine and warm weather. If you’re on the men’s and women’s tennis teams, then you’re flying high on wins, too. Coming off a 9-0 win against Elmhurst College, the Wheaton men’s tennis team is a strong 9-7 for their season. The women’s team is currently on a four-match winning streak with an impressive 18-2 record.
On April 11, the men’s team toppled Elmhurst, shutting them out 9-0. Senior Justin Ancona won the #1 singles 6-1, 6-2. Sophomore Dane Paulson went 6-0, 6-2 to win at #2 singles. Senior Matt Steiner and freshman Jeremiah Yi won their #3 and #4 singles, respectively. Ancona and Steiner competed together for an 8-5 #1 doubles win. Paulsen and Yi went 8-5 in the #2 doubles.
Against #12 nationally-ranked Case Western, the men fell 7-2 on April 8. Wheaton’s two victories came from the #1 singles and #1 doubles matches. Ancona went 6-3, 6-3 to earn Wheaton its first win of the match. Ancona teamed up Steiner for the #1 doubles match. The two won 8-5. Later in the day, Wheaton geared up for its second match against Oberlin College. Again, the Thunder went 7-2, with the men’s #1 singles and #1 doubles being the two wins of the match. Ancona went 6-4, 6-0 for his singles match. Ancona and Steiner went 8-1 in the doubles.
Ancona is confident that the men’s team will only continue to improve as he explained, “With the way the season has been going and the work the guys have put in, we feel confident that we can bring home the conference title at the end of the season.”
The women also had a double header match April 8, against Kalamazoo and Webster. Both times, the Thunder emerged victorious at 8-1. Senior Emily Jones won both of her #2 singles matches, going 6-4, 6-1 against Kalamazoo and 6-1, 6-2 against Webster. Juniors Miranda Kay and Kirstie White won singles matches at #3 and #4, respectively. Kay was 6-4, 6-1 against Kalamazoo and 6-0, 6-0 against Webster. White went 6-0, 7-5 to beat Kalamazoo and 6-0, 6-0 to earn a win against Webster.
All three of Wheaton’s women’s doubles won at both Kalamazoo and Webster. The #1 doubles was comprised of Jones and junior Katie Park. The duo went 9-8 at Kalamazoo before going on to win 8-3 against Webster. The #2 doubles, made up of Kay and sophomore Sara Magnuson, and #3 doubles, made up of White and freshman Claire Browning, both went 8-6 when facing their respective Kalamazoo doubles teams before going 8-1 and 8-0 against Webster, respectively.
The men resume play at home Thursday April 13 at 4 p.m. against Carthage College. The women have a nice rest before taking the court Friday April 21 to face off against Lake Forest College.