Pictured: Catherine Owen (C’21). Photo courtesy of sewaneetigers.com.
By Jeremy O’Neill
Staff Writer
The Tigers of Sewanee survived a challenge from Wittenberg University’s Tigers on Monday afternoon, with both men’s and women’s teams earning victories at the Guerry Indoor Courts inside the Fowler Center. The men’s team secured a narrow victory over the visiting Tigers, with a score of 5-4, while the women’s match was more one-sided, as Sewanee only dropped one individual match to secure the victory with a score of 8-1.
The men’s match did not start out as well as the team might have hoped, as the home Tigers dropped two out of three of the opening doubles matches. Singles were a different story, however, with Sewanee men’s claiming victory in four out of the six contests. Ryan Olps (C’21), Dane Hawthorne (C’20), Ryan Wax (C’22), and Jack Metzger (C’ 21) all earned straight-set victories to help move the 18th-ranked squad to 7-1 on the year.
The No. 12 ranked Sewanee women also took care of business, sweeping the doubles matches and earning five singles victories. Each of those victories came fairly decisively for Sewanee, as Morgan Downing (C’22), Abbie Vaughn (C’20), Lilly Stephens (C’22), Alexandra Smyth (C’22), and Kaylin Thompson (C’22) all won their matches in straight sets.
Both tennis teams opened conference play with wins as well. For the women’s team, this came in a hard-fought 6-3 win that saw the Tigers have to come from behind, after dropping two out of three doubles matches. Sewanee rallied behind a decisive 6-1, 6-0 victory by Catherine Owen (C’21) at the number one singles spot to take five out of the six singles matches. Senior experience helped all of the Tigers’ wins come in straight sets, as Sara Thompson (C’19), Mary Jane McCaghren (C’19), Haley Tucker (C’19), and Maura McCrary (C’19) all secured victories.
Centre’s visit to the Guerry Indoor Courts was also very successful for the Sewanee men. The Tigers were perfect in their match, securing the victory with a score of 9-0. The doubles team of Andres Carro (C’20) and Fletcher Kerr (C’19), and singles players Jack Gray (C’19) and Jordan Brewer (C’20), all played exceptionally well, and won their matches without dropping a single game.
With their victory the No. 18 ranked Tigers move to 8-1 on the year, and are preparing to face some of their toughest competition yet, as they fly west to compete in the Stag-Hen Invitational in Claremont, California. Their first match takes place on Friday, March 15 against No. 12 Gustavus Adolphus College.
The women’s team will also be making the trip to California, and will be facing even more difficult competition from No. 4 Pomona-Pitzer on March 17 and No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on March 20.