The RPI men’s tennis team wrapped up its season this weekend, capping off a season marked by substantial improvement over last year. The team posted a record of 10-4, as compared to 3-8 in 2004.
This season will be remembered for the impressive run-up to the last week of play, with RPI’s only loss going to St. Lawrence on April 15. Leading up to that match, the team defeated several of the toughest competitors in the league, including Hamilton. During the last week, however, the team faltered, unable to capitalize on their great season performance in the Liberty League Tournament in Canton, N.Y.
The week’s disappointments began on Tuesday when Rensselaer traveled to Saratoga Springs to face the Skidmore Thoroughbreds in one of the more highly anticipated matches of the season. Skidmore, the eventual champion in the Liberty League tournament, was 7-2 going into the match, but like most teams other than RPI, had lost to Hamilton earlier in the season. Skidmore was the more able team that day, however, taking the match 6-1. The sole victory was earned by freshman Aashish Kabra at fourth singles, defeating Stephen Hibino 6-3, 6-4. Other singles matches were lost in straight sets, but the doubles matches were all closely contested.
Heading into the Liberty League Tournament, Head Coach Carol Pillsworth felt confident in her team despite the Skidmore loss, especially given RPI’s success against the top competitors in the league. Fifth-seeded Rensselaer faced a tough opening round in playing fourth-seeded St. Lawrence, which handed RPI its first loss earlier in the season. This time, SLU had home-court advantage as host of the tournament.
SLU was first to earn a point, taking first and second doubles each 8-2. The Saints’ Matt Dwyer proved too tall an order for senior co-captain Mike Heligman, allowing only one game throughout the entire match. Junior co-captain Joe Byrne had to work for Rensselaer’s first point at second singles, trading sets (6-1, 2-6) with Mike Wiltshire, and winning a third-set replacement tiebreaker 10-6 to put RPI on the board. Fifth singles was the next point for SLU, with RPI junior Joe Black finding himself on the opposite side of his previous score against SLU, losing 6-4, 6-2 to Terran Palmer-Angell. Freshman Ranjeet Minocha and Kabra both lost at third and fourth singles respectively, with Kabra losing in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 10-1. This solidified a 5-1 victory for SLU and secured a place for them in the semifinals, where they met first-seeded Skidmore.
Third-seeded Hobart, having lost to sixth-seeded Union, became Rensselaer’s competition in the consolation draw on Sunday. By this point, though, RPI seemed to have lost much of the momentum it built up over the beginning two-thirds of the season. RPI losses at first and third doubles, along with first, second, and fifth singles resulted in a 4-0 win for Hobart, bringing RPI’s season to a close.
In the main draw of the tournament, Vassar defeated Union 4-2, and SLU fell to Skidmore 4-2, setting up the championship round. The Brewers were hoping to make up for an earlier loss to Skidmore but were unable to come out on top, losing 4-3 in a toughly fought contest.
Reflecting back on the season, Pillsworth was happy with the team’s drive and performance, though she wished they had capitalized on their momentum going into the end of the season and the championships. She noted, however, that the players are also students, and some of them are among the best academic performers on campus. This was noted by the Liberty League, which selected half of the team for its All-Academic Team. She also noted the team’s many successes early in the season, and hopes to see more such victories with better late-season success in the future.
