Thousand Oaks, CAThe Principia Man's Tennis Team finished their spring break trip on Friday afternoon playing against Cal Lutheran University. CLU, a tough division three opponent, played extremely well throughout the match. Despite the Panthers best efforts, they were unable to muster any match wins against the Kingsman of CLU, falling 9-0.
At 3rd doubles,
Nat Kenworthy and
Dan Wagstaff were unable to earn any games as they continued to learn how to work together. They had moments of good play, but their opponents were too solid, defeating them 8-0. At 1st doubles,
Joey Sander and
Brody Swan played very well and were on serve at 4-5. However, after holding two game points, they were broken and unable to get that break back. They fell 8-4. At 2nd doubles,
Jules Kitchingman and
Aaron Switzer played exceptional doubles throughout their match. There were highlight plays after highlight plays, as the match went back and forth. Eventually, the match went to a tiebreaker, where Kitchingman and Switzer were unable to finish off the match. They fell 9-8 (3).
Great singles efforts came from
Joey Sander at the 1st singles position and
Brody Swan at the 4th singles position. Sander played tough all match long despite not having his best stuff. He really did well in using his big first serve to earn many free points. After losing the first set 6-2, Sander took a 4-3 lead in the second set, but could not close it out. He fell 6-2, 7-5. At 4th singles,
Brody Swan came out ultra aggressive, using his big serve and dictating play with his big forehand. Swan had his opponent on the ropes in the first set, going up 5-2. However, his opponent started playing better, forcing the first set into a tiebreaker. Swan did not play his best in the tiebreaker, losing 7-6 (1). In the second set, Swan began to make a few more errors, giving his opponent all the momentum. Swan fell 7-6 (1), 6-1.
Overall, it was a great spring break trip for the Men's Tennis Team as they fought hard against some tough competition and gained valuable insight into their own games. The Panthers next play against Knox College on March 22nd at 5:00 PM at Principia College.
