Sports

Men fall to NYU, smash Muhlenberg

In print | February 28, 2008

The men went 1-2 in doubles play, with Jonathan Lo ’08 and Kevin Shaughnessy ’09 winning the first doubles match 8-0, while the Garnet dropped second and third doubles by 9-7 and 8-6 scores, respectively.

The singles competition was extremely competitive. Shaughnessy won in three sets (second singles), as did Mark Greenburg ’09 (fifth), coming back to win 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, while J.J. England won a tough 2-set affair, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7). However, NYU stood tall at the first, third and sixth positions, holding on for their 5-4 win.

The team, though disappointed with the loss, did not hang its head. “I told the guys after the [NYU] match I was proud of the fight they had in them and that is what will have to be the trademark of this team,” said coach Jason Box.

The Garnet rebounded the very next day, slaughtering Muhlenberg College 9-0 without so much as dropping a set. Greenburg and England kept up their play, combining to win the second doubles match 8-0, then splitting up to dominate their singles matches: England (third) won 6-4, 6-0 and Greenburg (fourth) won 6-0, 6-1. The team is now 1-0 in the Centennial Conference.

“I told the team I did not want to let leads get away from us like they did in the doubles on Saturday,” Box said. “The whole focus of today’s match was to put away the opponent and not let them back into the match. Our guys were able to execute this game plan very well.”

The men’s team will not play again until spring break, when they will head to California for a few days of intense playing.

With the first weekend of competition under its belt, the prospects look very bright for the men’s tennis team, for as Box says, “If this team will continue to work as hard as they have the last few weeks, we have the chance to do some good things this season.”