West Chester men’s tennis team has played a total of three opponents in the recent weeks: University of The Sciences In Philadelphia, Saint Thomas Aquinas College and Chestnut Hill College. The Rams record was one win and two losses, having their next three games in the spring time around March. The first game dated back to Sept. 29, as the Golden Rams went up against the University of the Sciences In Philadelphia.
The Golden Rams split the final two matches of their non-conference affair last Saturday afternoon to earn a 5-4 road victory over host U Sciences inside the Springton Tennis Center Thursday evening. West Chester (1-0), which led 4-3 when play was halted at the Springton Tennis Center last Saturday due to court scheduling and availability, got a win from freshman Keanu Travalino, who won 6-3, 6-4 over his opponent to clinch the match. Troy Donato dropped his match at fifth singles, 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (8). Last Saturday, U Sciences of Philadelphia had taken a 2-1 lead after doubles play. However, West Chester battled back with wins at first singles and third and fourth singles before play was stopped. In the singles division, Charlie Rushing, Lucas Von der Hedye, Lars Kristiansan and Keanu Travalino all got singles victories with WCU winning them 4-2. In the doubles matches, Rushing and Kristiansan were the only victors for the Golden Rams dropping 2 out of 3 matches, but WCU still walked away with the win.
Swinging into the next match, the Golden Rams next opponent was up against Saint Thomas Aquinas College. West Chester University’s men’s tennis squad dropped all three doubles matches and could not dig itself out of the hole as visiting St. Thomas Aquinas College earned a 6-3 victory over the Golden Rams on Wednesday afternoon. West Chester (1-1) evened its record on the year following the loss while St. Thomas Aquinas (3-0) remained undefeated. Rushing was a three-set winner at first singles for the Golden Rams while Kristiansen and Donato also picked up victories in the loss. Both Kristiansen and Donato were straight set winners. West Chester returns to action on Friday afternoon against Chestnut Hill in its final match of the fall season. In the singles matches, the Golden Rams split the matches three to three and the winners were Rushing, Kristiansen and Donato. When it came to the doubles matches, WCU got swept all three times and were unable to recover from those losses.
The final fall match West Chester University had was up against Chestnut Hill College. Rushing and Kristiansen remained unbeaten in doubles, however, visiting Chestnut Hill defeated homestanding West Chester, 6-3, in a non-league men’s tennis match on South Campus Friday afternoon. West Chester (1-2) picked up wins at first, third and fourth singles. However, three losses in doubles was too big of a hole to dig out of against Chestnut Hill (1-0). Deimler was the third win for the Golden Rams in the match, along with Rushing and Kristiansen winning their respective matches as well. This match concludes the men’s fall schedule. West Chester will return to action on March 6 against West Liberty.
We know that the men’s team will come out stronger and have a successful Spring season and also have a PSAC team Championship run.
Marcelus Council-Jones is a fourth-year student and can be reached at MC785844@wcupa.edu