Last weekend the tennis team closed out their spring season with a win and a loss in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. The team finished its season with a 12–13 record, going 1–3 in conference play.

As the fifth-seeded team in the tournament, the Yeomen took on the fourth-seeded team, the Allegheny College Gators in the quarterfinals last Friday. Unfortunately, the match ended with a 5–0 loss for the Yeomen.

With its season the line, the coaches made some changes to the team’s usual lineup, hoping to achieve better results.

“We felt it gave us the best opportunity to win the match, and unfortunately the gamble didn’t pay off,” said senior Charles Marks.

The Gators, ranked No.11 in the region, won all three doubles matches, as well as the No. 1 and No. 3 singles matches. The Yeomen almost snagged a win at the No. 3 doubles spot as first-year Abraham Davis and Marks took on Alexander Hurtuk and Sam Stephenson of Allegheny, but they ultimately fell 8–6.

First-year Ian Paik offered a truthful, if clicheéd, assessment of the team’s loss.

“Tennis is like a box of chocolates: you never quite know what you’re going to get, and the match with Allegheny epitomized this,” he said.

After the loss to Allegheny last Friday, the Yeomen bounced back with a 5–1 victory over the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops in the consolation semifinals of the tournament last Saturday.

“We did what we needed to do to win, and we made sure not to let them into the match,” Marks said.

Paik and first-year Jeremy Lichtmacher defeated Dane Poppe and Blake Brewer of Ohio Wesleyan, 8–0 in No. 2 doubles. Davis and Marks secured another victory by defeating Justin Overhulse and Austin Okray, 8–3 in No. 3 doubles.

Marks also secured a singles victory by defeating Dane Poppe 3–6, 6–2 and 6–2. The win came in Marks’ last ever match as a Yeomen and clinched a victory for the team.

“It was a good way to not only end our season but to end Charlie’s college career by getting the fifth point, clinching the match,” Paik said.

Davis was happy with the victory over the Battling Bishops but wasn’t content with the season’s end.

“It would’ve been nice to beat Allegheny and reach the semifinals, but there’s always next year,” he said.

Both Paik and sophomore Callan Louis received NCAC accolades for their impressive seasons. Paik was named to the All-NCAC Second Team and was also named the NCAC newcomer of the year while Louis was named Honorable Mention, All-NCAC.

With this season behind them, the Yeomen are already looking toward next spring and setting high goals for themselves.

“As a team we’d like to improve on our fifth place finish this year and aim to make the jump into the top three of the conference,” Paik said. “We’d like to get regionally ranked, and I think we have the tools to do it.”

Although Marks will be graduating this year, he too is optimistic about the future for the Yeomen.

“This season was a season of learning, with a ton of young guys getting comfortable with the dual match setting,” Marks said. “This team is ready to take huge steps forward in the coming seasons behind a really strong core of young guys.”