Numbers don’t lie, but they don’t always accurately portray the entire story. The Red went for much of the first part of the season stomping its opponents and were looking for a challenge.
Ask and you shall receive.
After going 2-2 over the past week, a casual onlooker might deem this trip as one in mediocrity.
Upon further inspection, one would see that the two losses came against two quality opponents. Losses are usually only a bad thing, but some are better than others and these qualify as “good” losses.
After defeating Florida A&M, 6-1, on the Mar. 18 and getting rained out against Florida Atlantic on the 19th, the netters dropped two close matches.
The first loss of the season came against Barry, one of the best division II teams in the country, by a score of 4-3 on the Mar. 21. The netters faced Miami the next day and played the No. 14 team in the country tough in a 4-3 loss.
“This trip instilled a lot of toughness,” said head coach Barry Schoonmaker.
Somebody said that pain is weakness leaving the body. Well that somebody was dead on, as the Red had to play its third consecutive match in a row against Lynn, another talented squad. Keeping in mind the theme of the year, toughness, the netters walloped Lynn, 7-2.
Schoonmaker continued on to say that, “Our guys now believe that they can play with anyone and have the ability to play a lot of matches in a row.”
This ability to play almost continuously will be a valuable asset as the netters head into Ivy League play and face tough competition within the league this year.
There is not a single team that the Red can’t beat within the Ancient Eight. In past years Harvard and Columbia would dominate, but the league is deeper as Cornell figures to be in the hunt for the title along with Brown and Princeton.
Said senior tri-captain Greg Artzt, “There is no team with an outright advantage this year and it will all come down who will be able to fight it out all the way to the end.”
After this trip, the Red have prepped themselves strongly for its run at the league title.
Archived article by Donald Lee