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The F&M men’s tennis team traveled to Orlando, FL for spring break to play five matches in five days. The Diplomats entered Spring break with a record of 1-2. After playing some quality opponents the Diplomats were only able to win one match and finished the trip with a record of 2-6.
F&M’s first game came against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), who was undefeated on the season (3-0). Hamza Pataudi ’16 was the only winner for the singles matches for F&M. He defeated his opponent, Jordan Cruz, in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, and 10-3. In doubles competition, William MacArthur ’14 and Tommy Weibye ’15, in the number three position, easily defeated their opponents 8-4. They were the lone winners for F&M on the doubles side. Ultimately, the Diplomats lost to TCNJ 7-2.
Next up for the Diplomats was ASA University (6-2) and Judson (1-6). Against ASA University Doug Kaplan ’16 and Nolan Bacchieri ’15 were the two single winners on the F&M side. Kaplan, playing from the number four spot, defeated his opponent with a 6-2, 6-0 decision, and Bacchieri, who was slotted in the number five position, also cruised past his opponent 6-2, 6-0. For doubles competition, MacArthur and Bacchieri were able to pick up a win playing from the number two position. This was F&M’s only doubles victory, and the Diplomats fell to ASA University 6-3.
Playing against Judson was a different story. F&M was able to impressively win five of the six singles matches and two of the three doubles matches. On the singles side, Ross Silverberg ’13, Kazuhiro Tomioka ’15, Parint
Lertdumrikam ’15 and Geoffrey Brennan ’14 all won their matches. In the doubles competition, MacArthur and Bacchieri, and Samuel Stone ’13 and Tomioka, all prevailed, victoriously cruising past their opponents with a 8-2 decision.
The Diplomats dropped the final two matches of the Spring break trip against Rensselaer 8-1 and Wesleyan 6-3. First F&M squared off against Rensselaer who was 6-2, coming into the match. On the singles side, no F&M players were able to win their matches.
Most of the matches were very close, and Brennan almost pulled off a victory, losing 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7) playing from the number six spot. In doubles competition, F&M was able to pull off a victory when Silverberg and Weibye took down their opponents 8-5. Even though MacArthur and Patudi lost their match, they took their opponents down to the wire, eventually losing 9-8 (7-5).
F&M concluded its trip against 1-2 Wesleyan. The Diplomats won two of the five single matches, led by Silverberg and MacArthur, who were both playing against the number one and two opponents on Wesleyan. Silverberg won 7-5, 7-5 and MacArthur won 6-1, 6-2. On the doubles side MacArthur and Bacchieri played from the number one position and defeated their opponents 8-4.
“We learned that having talent is not enough; we also need to compete our hardest for every single point in each match in order to have a chance at winning,” Silverberg said. “F&M finished the trip 1-4, and we look to rebound when they return to action on March 30 against Washington.”
“Each season is a difficult and long journey with a lot of ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ — the trick is recognizing the ‘downs’ and knowing how to best handle those situations in order to create the opportunity to have more ‘ups,’” Silverberg said.
Questions? Email Mark at mdourmas@fandm.edu.