The IUS men’s tennis team defeated Berea College, 8-1, at the IUS Tennis Courts on April 3.
“It was a good match,” Yancey Walters, IUS head coach, said. “Berea is in our conference, so any win in conference is a good win. I got to play all my players, and that’s always good.”
With the wind gusting from 15 to 20 mph, the players had some difficulty with their hits, but the Grenadiers were able to pull off a victory.
Matt Coomer, No. 1 singles senior, said the wind was a major problem.
“It affects every aspect of your game during the match,” Coomer said, “but I thought we handled it well. We have had a lot of practice in the wind, and I feel we are getting used to it.”
The Grenadiers dominated the doubles match-ups against Berea College.
Coomer and Breyden Everitt, No. 4 singles freshman, faced Berea’s Chad Jeffries and Gil Bagang, ending the game with a score of 8-1.
“In the doubles match, we started strong,” Coomer said. “We played a very strategic, conservative game and then started taking more chances once we got a big lead.”
Adam Denney, No. 2 singles senior, and Kevin Sacksteder, No. 3 singles junior, defeated Berea’s Dea Leeper and Adam Meader with a score of 8-0.
Jimmy Nungester, No. 7 singles freshman, and Tyler Jackson, No. 3 doubles sophomore, won 8-1 against Berea College’s Diego Moya and Jake Stoffle.
In the singles games, Walters said he was able to substitute players since the Grenadiers were ahead.
“I was really proud of my substitutes for playing well in singles,” Walters said. “Edgar Moso, Grant Durham and Tyler Blessinger all did a great job coming in and winning their matches.”
Coomer faced Jeffries, but the match-up ended early with a score of 5-3 from the first game of the match.
Coomer had to retire and default the match because of a hurt wrist. He said the issue with his wrist was not a new problem and has had trouble with it before.
“I had surgery on my hand over the summer,” Coomer said, “and, since we played a really tough match against Campbellsville the day before, it was really sore.
“My retirement in the singles was more of a precautionary move since we have a lot of matches coming up,” Coomer said.
In the final two singles games, Edgar Moso, No. 8 singles freshman, defeated Moya in both games. The first and second games ended with a score of 6-1 and 6-0, respectively.
Berea’s Stoffle lost 6-1 in his first game against Durham and was once again defeated, 6-0, in the second game.
“When we won all three doubles, that gave us the advantage,” Walters said. “Then, we knew we only needed to win two singles matches, and that gave us a huge psychological advantage against them.”
By JENNIFER
HARRINGTON
Staff
jeharrin@umail.iu.edu