Grove City College proved to be no threat to the men’s tennis team last Saturday as the Yeomen cruised to a solid 6–3 victory over the Wolverines. After over a week with no matches, the Yeomen came out ready to fight for their fifth consecutive victory, rising to a 5–1 overall record.

The Yeomen started the afternoon strong, with victories in two of the three doubles matches. The dynamic doubles team of senior Ben Turchin and junior captain Charlie Marks soundly beat their competition with a score of 8–4, improving their undefeated doubles record for this season. Sophomore Soren Zeliger and first-year Callan Louis were unstoppable in the second spot, finishing with an untarnished score of 8–0. At the third spot senior Eliot Heaton and first-year Eli Rogatz were evenly matched against the pairing of Blake Brogan and Jonathan Graber, but couldn’t hold them off, losing 7–9.

The early doubles wins helped to set the tone for the rest of the match, and doubles matches have more broadly been key for the team’s success this season. “We are just an aggressive team,” said Marks. “We have taken at least two out of three doubles points in every match, which sets us up for success in singles play.”

That success was evident Saturday afternoon, as the Yeomen finished singles play with four more wins to seal the victory; both Louis and Zeliger continued their reigns in singles play. Louis was challenged by Caleb Fuller in the second spot, but pulled through to win with a tiebreaker, defeating his opponent 6–2, 7–6, 9–7. Zeliger plowed through in the fourth spot to an impressive 6–1, 6–3 victory. Having not played in doubles earlier, first-year Brandon McKenna came out resiliently in the No. 5 singles, successfully defeating his opponent in a tiebreaker by scores of 5–7, 6–2, 10–6.

Turchin cruised to his second victory of the day, defeating his opponent Anthony Rosselli 6–3, 6–3 in the third singles spot. Turchin found the two weeks off to be beneficial, maintaining that “[Coach Eric Ishida] has done a great job this season of varying up practices,” helping the team to “focus a lot on fitness and specific things we all need to work on individually.”

The Yeomen hope to seal their sixth victory as they take on the John Carroll University Blue Streaks this Saturday at home. This weekend marks the beginning of a busy schedule ahead for the Yeomen, but Marks is confident the team will come out on top. “This team is ready and prepared to make a climb up the conference ladder,” he said, “and as long as we keep up our intensity and continue coming together as a team, I expect we will be able to do so.”