Katie Weida
Sports Editor
The Washington College men’s tennis team had four players compete at the ITA Southeast Regionals, hosted by Mary Washington this past weekend.
Senior Adam Cranford, who was the seventh seed of the singles tournament, advanced to the third round. He opened with a strong 6-1, 7-5, win over Swarthmore’s Preston Poon and continued on defeating Mary Washington’s Kevin Aquino 6-1, 6-4. Unfortunately, he was stopped by German Gonzalez of Johns Hopkins in the third round.
Junior Kevin Papen made it to the second round of singles, defeating Swarthmore’s Max Kaye, 6-1, 6-4, before falling to top-seeded Eric Shulman of Christopher Newport.
Junior Aaron Ellison lost to third-seeded Sam Wichlin of Mary Washington, 6-1, 6-4, and Andy Dougherty of Haverford, 6-3, 4-6, 10-5.
Junior Kyle Lisco lost to Christopher Newport’s Matt King and was unable to play in the consolation match due to injury.
In the doubles tournament, Ellison and Lisco lost in the first round to Will Garrett and Hailiu Yang of Haverford 8-2 before moving on to defeat Swarthmore 8-5 in the consolation match. In the consolation quarterfinals, they lost to Christopher Newport’s Dustin Nelson and Lorenzo Sison 8-2.
Cranford and Papen were unable to play in their scheduled doubles matches due to injury.
WC Men’s Tennis also competed at the Mount St. Mary’s Invitational this past weekend. Junior John Menzione led the way for the Shoremen, finishing fourth in Flight A Singles. Menzione beat Terry Keegan of Gettysburg, 6-3, 2-6, 10-5, before falling in the semifinals to Mike Salomon of Mount St. Mary’s, 4-6, 6-2, 11-9.
In the match for third place, Menzione lost to Loyola’s Keyan Sanai, 6-1, 6-0.
Cranford said he was pleased with the team’s performance this weekend at ITA’s. “We all played well in the Championship draw for both singles and doubles and it was the best competition possible in the region. Every player in the draw was good, so there was no such thing as an “easy match” for anyone. It was great experience for all the guys leading up to the spring season.”
Overall, Cranford said the men’s fall season was a great success. “Everyone seemed to be playing a lot smarter, and consistent. It was clear that the hard work payed off for the tournament, so hopefully there will be even more improvement in the long off season.”