Last weekend was full of wins for the men’s and women’s tennis teams, which beat Penn State and Colgate 5-2 and 7-0, respectively. Heading into this weekend’s matches, the netters hope for similar success, as they build on already strong showings indoors this winter. The men will take on Binghamton, Rutgers, Army and Buffalo in a four-day series while the women are set to face Army and Syracuse beginning tonight.
Women
“It’s our first dual of the season,” said freshman Kasia Preneta. “We’re really excited.”
Cornell’s women have played in several matches already this season, but last weekend’s Valentine’s Day match was the first which counted towards the team’s record. The shutout was a positive way to start the season.
“I’m not sure how well we’ve done against Colgate in the past,” recounted Preneta, “but we definitely played well against them this time.”
As the team prepares to host Army tomorrow and head north to Syracuse on Sunday, the women know that they will have to play equally dominating tennis to get more wins. The Orangewomen currently stand 2-4 but are on a two-game winning streak. Similarly, Army’s squad also boasts a 2-4 record and will face Syracuse this weekend as well.
But the Red isn’t worried.
“We’ve been playing really well lately with some really intense practices,” concluded Preneta. “I think we’ll play well this weekend.”
Men
The men also think they have a good shot at bumping their record to 6-0.
“We have a tougher schedule than we’ve ever had, but we’re also playing really well this year, and we have high expectations,” said junior Scott Spencer.
After dismantling Penn State, which was ranked higher than Cornell and favored to win the match, the Red has been waiting to get back on the court.
The team will have the chance four times over when it hosts four schools at Reis Tennis Center. Topping the list is an Army team which has a 4-1 mark and is coming off a weekend which saw the team defeat Princeton for the first time since 1945. Army also knocked off the University of Central Florida, and gave No. 27 ranked Clemson a scare.
“Army will definitely be our toughest match,” continued Spencer, “but I have all expectations that we’ll win.”
“We’ve started this season in a great way,” he added, “all we need now is to keep playing consistently to show what we can do.”
Archived article by Everett Hullverson