Relatively okay news Bears: Men’s tennis feeling good after narrow loss to Wash U

Download the original attachment For a men’s tennis squad teetering on the edge of the NCAA tournament picture, Sunday’s match against Wash U would have been an enormous boost. If only moral victories counted.

After knocking off Case 7–2 on Saturday, the 16th-ranked Maroons were points away from toppling third-ranked Wash U Sunday. Even with the 5–4 loss to the Bears, though, Chicago is feeling good about its closest match with Wash U over the past decade.

“If we would have beaten Wash U, that would have been the biggest win on the men’s side by far since I’ve been here,” head coach Marty Perry said. “The men did well; it’s looking like they have some potential this year.”

The narrow loss to the Bears came on the heels of a strong win over Case a day before. With six matches already under their belts, the Maroons were much more match-tested than their opponents—Wash U was in its first weekend of competition—but the Bears have historically dominated the South Siders.

Chicago has never taken more than three doubles and singles matches from Wash U over the past decade, and last season the Maroons fell to the Bears 8–1 in the UAA tournament. On Sunday, Chicago was confident as it began singles play trailing 2–1.

“I felt good about having one point after doubles,” Perry said. “I told the guys ‘We played them [at Bally’s] and almost got swept a couple of years ago. We’ve got one point, so let’s use it.’”

From there, the Maroons stayed right with the Bears. Third-year Will Zhang and second-year Jan Stefanski dropped the top two spots, but a solid middle of the lineup pushed Wash U to the brink. First-year Dillon Klincke and second-year Jonathan Alexander took wins at three and four, while third-year Troy Brinker had a comeback win at the fifth spot.

For the Maroons, however, the first match to be played actually decided the game. With his singles match starting during doubles play, first-year Harrison Abrams had chances at the six spot but couldn’t pull out the win, and fell in the third set. That allowed Wash U to withstand Chicago’s charge later on in the afternoon.

“That was a pivotal match…. If we had won that, Troy Brinker’s match would have decided it, and that’s a guy I would really want the match to come down to,” Perry said.

Even with the sting of coming close and falling short, Zhang sees this weekend as a sign of things to come.

“We probably could have performed a little better, but it definitely shows we have a really solid lineup,” he said. “We’re looking pretty strong right now.”

Things seem to be coming together for a Chicago squad that has gone through some growing pains early on in the season, with two transfers and two first-years still acclimating to the team. Alexander has been the most productive newcomer thus far, going 7–3 in singles, but Chicago has relied on all four new contributors at times this season.

As the squad moves forward, it will be looking for more consistency, something that should help close the gap between the Maroons and teams like Wash U down the road.

“It’s taken some time to get that team mentality that you have to bring it every second you’re in a match,” Perry said. “We have to get everyone going into that mentality where, from warm-up to when we’re done, you’ve got to go 100 percent…. Our schedule’s not that easy, so it’s imperative that we put our best foot forward every time we play.”

The Maroons return to action for another test when they travel to 21st-ranked Kalamazoo on Sunday.