By Hillary Kane
Elm Staff Writer
The Washington College Men’s Tennis team, now ranked 12th in the Atlantic South Region, have started their 2011 season with an exciting twist. At 3-2, the Shoremen have knocked off Averett University (7-2), Guilford College (8-1), and McDaniel College (8-1). Their two losses were to 10th-ranked team North Carolina Wesleyan, and 30th-ranked team Christopher Newport.
In spite of these heartbreaking losses, senior Adam Cranford rallied a 0-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over the nation’s fourth ranked singles player Eric Shulman of Christopher Newport. This win, in addition to his 4-0 record at No.1 singles and 2-1 record at No. 3 doubles last week, earned him the title not only of Shoreman of the Week but the Centennial Conference Player of the Week as well. “I was shocked afterwards. He was beating me pretty badly, but I stuck around and got myself back into the match,” said Cranford.
Although the Shoremen have only competed in one conference match, they started on the right foot by crushing McDaniel 8-1 at home last Saturday. The Shoremen won two out of the three doubles matches, both with scores of 8-2. Juniors Kevin Papen and Aaron Ellison dominated at No. 2, while the duo of Cranford and freshman Marc Cywinski won at No.3.
At No. 1 singles, Cranford won by scores of 6-0 and 6-1. Next, junior John Menzione finished at No. 6 with scores of 6-0, 6-0. Junior Kyle Lisco brought home the win for the Shoremen with his solid 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 4. The rest of the Shoremen followed suit with Papen winning at No. 2, freshmen Joel Novick winning at No. 5, and Ellison winning at No. 3 singles.
Menzione is pleased with the way the Shoremen have begun their season. “We had a good start to our conference by beating McDaniel. Hopefully we can keep going strong.”
The Shoremen’s next competition is a conference match at Franklin & Marshall on March 26th followed by a non-conference match later that day in York (PA). Their next home match is April 2nd against Hampden-Sydney College.
March 25, 2011
Volume LXXXI Issue 19