Women victorious in matches, men lose


Mandi Mooney

Editor-in-Chief

April 8, 2005

 

 

 

Sophomore Tom Jones reaches to block his opponent’s shot during Tuesday’s match against Tennessee Wesleyan College.

-Cassie Lomison

For the men’s and women’s tennis teams, Tuesday’s matches looked a whole lot like Monday’s matches. On both days the men’s team fell to their opponent while the women came out victorious.


On Monday afternoon both teams took on Appalachian Athletic Conference rival King College. The contest started off on a positive note for the Lady Buffs when all three doubles matches ended with points for Milligan. The Lady Buffs continued their domination in the singles, winning four out of five matches to give them a final score of 8-1.


For the men’s team, Monday ended in losses beginning with the doubles matches. Only the team of sophomores Ryan Reynolds and Tom Jones won. In the singles, Reynolds was victorious again but was followed by only one more win from senior teammate Patrick Mitchell. The Buffs ended the day with a 3-6 score.


Tuesday brought another win for the Lady Buffs (5-4) and another defeat for the men (3-6) against Tennessee Wesleyan College.


The women faced much stiffer competition with only two doubles teams recording wins and three singles players capturing victories.


“We knew it was a big match,” said senior Cheri Lomison. “UVA-Wise was considered the strong team this year, and Tennessee Wesleyan had just beaten them on Sunday so we knew the score was going to be 5-4 one way or the other.”


The men ended the day with the same score as Monday but with winning performances from different players. Junior Isaac Schade performed well in both singles and doubles, with partner junior Travis Fields, to give Milligan two of its three points. The other point came from Reynolds.


The teams had to travel to Liberty Bell both days as Milligan’s new tennis complex has still not been completed because of the lasting winter weather.


“After spending half the season being disappointed by cancellations due to rain and program drops,” said sophomore Krissi Denton, “winning a match against one of the hardest teams in the conference has given us more confidence to follow through with our plan of making it to nationals.”


For the women, the wins bring their record to 3-2 in the season and 2-0 in the conference. The men fall to 3-6 for the season and 2-4 in the conference. Tomorrow the men’s team will face Montreat College (N.C.) while the women’s team take on Virginia Intermont, last year’s conference champion.