Mandi Mooney
Assistant Editor/Web Adminstrator
The men’s tennis team opened up their season at home on Feb. 24 with a loss to Virginia Intermont College. The afternoon of matches started out bright and sunny but became cloudy and cold as the Buffs faltered one by one. In the end, VI defeated Milligan 9-0.
Head coach Rich Aubrey said that Milligan has never won against VI since he became coach three years ago. However, the no. one doubles team of freshmen Tom Jones and Ryan Reynolds come close to finally beating VI with a score of 6-8.
“They lost but were right in it the whole time,” Aubrey said. “They could have won.”
The entire team struggled against the no. 8 nationally-ranked team from VI. Senior Adam Campbell put up a good fight in a match that took most of the afternoon. His efforts fell short as he lost in three sets (6-3, 1-6, 1-6).
“Overall, I think we did all right,” Aubrey said. “We hit pretty well—good opponents will bring that out.”
Aubrey has high hopes about this season.
“We’ve improved the strength of our lineup…we have a very demanding schedule and we will have to grow up quickly,” Aubrey said.
The Buffs, whose record stands at 0-1, travel to Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn. today for their first away match.