By Zack Shaw
Elm Staff Writer
The Washington College men’s tennis team is 7-2 overall and 1-1 in Centennial Conference play. The women’s team has had similar success, this year going 7-3 and 3-1 in the conference. Both sides started the year strong and hope to make a playoff push.
The most important part of any college team’s schedule is conference games. After annihilating non-conference teams both tennis teams want to make a strong statement: WC is for real and strong enough to compete for the playoffs.
“We can grind at every spot on our team. To put it simply, we don’t like losing and we want to keep it that way,” sophomore Jake Sandler said.
Despite the 5-4 loss to Haverford, many players remain optimistic on the season.
“Going into the season, I knew we had a chance to make the playoffs. Our lineup is sick and I think we’re going to do well. It’s so hard to win the conference, but I feel we can compete against the Johns Hopkins and Swarthmore,” said senior captain Zack Novick.
Sophomores Jake Sandler and Chris Salisbury are a combined 17-0 at one and two singles for the season. As sophomores, fans an expect to see the duo in the next couple of years.
Senior captain Jeremy Novick expressed his assurance WC is different from previous years and are looking to build upon last year.
“The biggest difference between our team this year and previous years is confidence. We believe we are one of the best teams in the centennial conference, which is why we are playing so well right now. Coach Ringstad has purposefully designed our schedule so that we will peak just in time for conference play which is another contributing factor to our recent success. We approach each match with intensity and we’re only going to improve from here,” said senior captain Jeremy Novick.
Coach Jason Ringstad is pleased with the teams performance.
“We’re really happy with the team chemistry right now. Both teams have really come together since last spring and it has made a big impact. The energy in our matches this week was as high as it has been since I’ve been here and I’m excited to watch our teams continue to grow,” Coach Ringstad said.
On the women’s side, Julie Lazer has been holding down the fort since former player April Weaver traded her racket for a whistle. Lazer has been undefeated in conference play so far in singles and doubles play going 4-0. On March sixth Lazer was named Co-Centennial Conference Player of the Week. WC womens tennis has a regional ranking at #11 thus far.
The women’s team is currently in fifth place behind Franklin and Marshall, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore, and Haverford, while the men’s team is currently sitting in fifth place in the Centennial Conference behind Franklin and Marshall, Johns Hopkins, Haverford, and Swarthmore.
Both mens and women’s teams are sitting at fifth place. They look to bounce back when they host rival Salisbury University at home. Both matches will start at 3:30 p.m.