The UR men’s tennis team is looking forward to their upcoming matchups against Kenyon College and Northeast Regional foes Bowdoin College and Bates College after making easy work of Rochester area opponents that the squad faced last Saturday.
The Yellowjackets had no problem handling Nazareth College, Hobart College and Rochester Institute of Technology on Wednesday and Saturday at UR’s Zornow indoor tennis courts.
“Overall the team played well even though the matches were not very challenging,” head coach Chris O’Brien said. “It’s always tough when you’re expected to win, but the team responded well.”
UR dispatched the Golden Flyers, Statesmen and Tigers by scores of 7-0, 7-0 and 6-1, respectively.
Sophomore Avinash Reddy paced the team, going 2-0 at the No. 1 singles spot and 3-0 in doubles.
Following Saturday’s matches, the Yellowjackets wasted little time shifting their focus toward the upcoming weekend.
UR is slated to meet up with three squads ranked in the top 20 in the nation when Kenyon, Bates and Bowdoin come to town. All three matches are critical for the Yellowjackets, as victories would significantly help their case for a spot at Nationals.
“Next weekend determines whether we go to Nationals or not,” Reddy said. “Bates was ranked two spots ahead of us last year and was the last team to make Nationals from our region. Now we will have a chance to knock them off.”
The Yellowjackets agree that in order to pull off successful weekend they must come out with intensity and play hard from the first serve to the last point.
“We need to start strong in doubles. We match up well in singles because we’re deep. We’ll have a shot at winning throughout the lineup,” Reddy said. “It’s important to start off quick. We need to keep pressure on constantly.”
Gerton can be reached at mgerton@campustimes.org.
