Heading into spring break, the men’s tennis team hoped to set the tone for a successful season, and to turn the corner from a difficult string of losses at the end of the 2004 season. Now that they have returned from Hilton Head, S.C., the players can look ahead to the regular season with confidence from a string of convincing wins.
The week kicked off on Monday with a 7-0 victory over Webster College of St. Louis, MO. None of the singles players lost a set, with freshman Ranjeet Minocha and junior Joe Black putting on an impressive performance by only losing a single game each. RPI swept the doubles matches as well. Newcomer Tim Camitta partnered with Amadeus Lopez to secure a swift 8-1 victory over Webster’s Eric Fey and Vlad Lewinsky.
Continuing on Tuesday, the Red Hawks took on Philadelphia Biblical University. This match proved to be another confidence booster for RPI, with the entire team only losing a total of ten games across six singles matches and three doubles matches. Heligman, Black, and Lopez all steamrolled their Crimson Eagle opponents, 6-0, 6-0, building on their solid performance against Webster. This win brought the Red Hawks to 2-0 on their trip.
Wednesday’s match against Grinnell was not held, meaning that RPI would next face Heidelberg College of Tiffin, Ohio. This match was anything but sunny, but the Red Hawks were still able to dig out a convincing win. The Heidelberg Student Princes’ Paul Evans managed to squeak out a narrow victory over RPI junior Joe Byrne, 6-4, 7-5, at second singles, but Heligman, Black, and Lopez carried the team to three singles victories.
With all three RPI doubles teams posting hard-fought wins, the Red Hawks reached the magic number of four points necessary to win the match. Minocha and sophomore Sharran Deora’s matches were then halted due to inclement weather. Deora was partway through a tight first set against Scott Knisely of Heidelberg, while Minocha was engrossed in a third-set battle against Max Norris.
With the 4-1 win of Heidelberg, RPI improved to 3-0 on the season. They don’t get to reflect on their success below the Mason-Dixon line for long, though, as Liberty League play begins Sunday, April 3, at Union, a match which will be a key test for the hopeful RPI tennis team.
