Last weekend, the men’s tennis team’s offseason training finally paid off when they left the court with a 7–2 win at home against Malone University in their first match of the season.

“Even with our small size, we have a good mix of classes and I think everyone really stepped up this weekend,” said senior co-captain Sam Towne. With only nine members on the team, everyone contributed for a victory.

Towne and fellow captain and senior Joe Leffler started this momentum in a doubles match, beating their opponents 8–1 in the No. 3 spot. Sophomores Ben Turchin and Logan Chun then gave the Yeomen another doubles victory, winning their match 8–2 in the No. 2 spot. In the No. 1 spot, first-year Soren Zeliger and sophomore Charlie Marks fell to Malone in a close match that ended 7–9. The team effort was enough to give Oberlin a 2–1 lead in doubles competition.

The Yeomen’s real strength came out in the singles competition. Towne grabbed the first victory with scores of 6–1 and 6–0 against his opponent. In the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, Zeliger and Leffler secured wins with scores of 6–0, 6–0 and 6–1, 6–1, respectively. Chun, in the No. 1 spot, also defeated his opponent 6–1 and 6–1. “Logan [Chun] is our number one. He really dominated in his match this weekend,” observed Towne. These successes left Oberlin with a 7–2 victory overall.

“This is the most talented group we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Towne said. “I was expecting to win and we did. There are always things we could have done better, but this was a good start. We never really let our opponents into the match.”

The real challenge will come this weekend, in the Yeomen’s first conference match of the season against Wabash College. Last season, men’s tennis was defeated 2–7 by the historically competitive Wabash, but they hope to turn this around.

“I think we are a little bit stronger this year so we have a good shot. I think it will be close either way. It should be our first real test,” commented Towne. “I played well; I played fine [against Malone] and that’s all I really needed to do against my opponents. This weekend I will really have to play well.”

Following their 8 a.m. match against Wabash this Saturday morning, the Yeomen will take on Elmhurst College at 4 p.m.