by Emanuel Andras
The men’s tennis team consolidated its impressive form of late with a weekend sweep over rivals Buena Vista University and Cornell College.
Last Friday, the Pioneers rolled over Buena Vista 7-0, going undefeated in both singles and doubles competition. The singles play was particularly impressive, especially Kushal Shah ‘06’s 6-0 6-0 demolition of Brock Wheeler, and Joe Jankolovits ‘07’s similarly impressive double bagel victory over Jonathan Gerster.
“Against Buena Vista we were able to play deep into our lineup,” says head coach Andy Hamilton. “I am pleased with this because the opportunity allowed for further development of some players who don’t have regular spots in the lineup.”
While the doubles side has been struggling somewhat, the squad still managed to win all three of its doubles matches. The top team of Brij Patnaik ‘05/Jordan Lee ‘08 scored an 8-2 victory over Greg Hamman/David Batchelder, while the No. 2 combo of D.J. Warden ‘08/Rick Fenbert ‘06 defeated Khio Vongdenane/Brock Wheeler 8-1. The most resounding win came from the duo of Julian West ‘06/Eli Best ‘07, who did not allow their Buena Vista opponents to even get on the scoreboard.
Cornell College offered slightly more resistance, but the Pioneer squad quickly quashed it, winning 6-1. The Grinnell team won the doubles point and took five out of six singles matches. Among the singles winners was Best, playing in the No. 2 position, who beat his opponent 6-2, 6-2, No. 3 Patnaik with a strong 6-0, 6-1 win, and up-and-comer Warden who nabbed a 6-2 6-1 win. At doubles, the combos of Fenbert/Warden and West/Best provided the two victories needed to secure the doubles point. The top team of Patnaik/Lee lost 8-6 in a tight match.
The victory over Cornell was especially noteworthy, according to Hamilton, because “prior to [the] match, Cornell competed against a number of MWC teams so our victory over them gave us a nice measurement about how we stack up with the teams in our league.”
The team does not have any formal competition this coming weekend, and will use the time to continue improving on its doubles play, which is arguably the weaker part of the squad’s form. The next match for Grinnell should provide some stiffer competition. The team will play Coe, which is currently the No. 8 team in the Central Region, and St. Norbert, which took third place last year in the Midwestern Conference.
In Grinnell’s six wins so far, the Pioneers have outscored their opposition 33-10. The Pioneers have now won four straight and won’t play again until the start of spring break.
Feb. 12 ST. AMBROSE
W 6-1
Feb. 12 NEB. WESLEYAN
W 4-3
Feb. 18 Univ. of Chicago
L 6-1
Feb. 20 WARTBURG
W 5-2
Feb. 25 UW-Oshkosh
W 5-2
Mar. 5 CORNELL
W 6-1
Mar. 5 BUENA VISTA
W 7-0
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