BY MELINDA PETRE

In print | Published March 27, 2008

Men’s tennis, ranked #12 in the Atlantic South Region, improved their record to 3-4, 3-0 Centennial Conference after consecutive conference wins March 21-22. Swarthmore swept Ursinus College 9-0 on Friday and went on to handily defeat Dickinson 7-2 on Saturday. “It is important to come out ready to play when competing against conference teams and our guys certainly did that,” men’s tennis coach Jason Box said.

Formerly an independent team, this is the first season of Centennial Conference competition for men’s tennis. Rule changes at the national level have made it harder for independent teams to qualify for regional and national postseason play. As a result, men’s tennis decided to join every other Swarthmore NCAA team (aside from Badminton) as Centennial Conference members. “It is hard for us to gauge the talent of all the Centennial Conference teams that we have never faced in previous years,” Kevin Shaughnessy ’09 said.

Against Ursinus (2-2, 0-2 CC), Swarthmore began the day sweeping doubles competition, only dropping two games. “It was a good match to gain some confidence,” Jonathan Lo ‘08 said. The Garnet continued their sweep with victories in all six singles matches. "I was happy to contribute to the team’s win and was especially happy to not have dropped a single game in my singles match," JJ England ’09 added.

This is the second shutout of the season for the team (they also shut out Muhlenberg on February 24). “We played well against Ursinus and the team score as well as individual scores reflected that,” Shaughnessy said.

Dickinson (20th in the Atlantic South Region, 2-5, 0-2 CC) proved to be stiffer competition on Saturday, as the Garnet dropped its first two individual matches in Centennial Conference play. However, the Garnet passed their first test with flying colors, winning 7-2. “I could sense the excitement from the players at the beginning of the Dickinson match because they knew they needed to play well and were looking forward to the challenge of a fired up Dickinson team,” Coach Box said. “Dickinson is definitely the more competitive of the two teams,” England added.

The Garnet began the day sweeping all three doubles matches in just 30 minutes. However, “Dickinson stepped their game up in singles. We weren’t prepared for that and it took us a set to adjust and get our play back up to where it should be,” Shaughnessy said.

“My opponent took me by surprise because he was unorthodox with his forehand — he only hit slice — so it took me a while to adjust. It was interesting to see something different,” added Lo, who is ranked 24th individually in the Atlantic South Region.

“We are happy to be 3-0 right now in conference, but realize we have much bigger matches ahead of us. Our goal is to win a conference championship and each win is a step forward, but we are still a long ways off from the end of the road,” Coach Box explained.

“I like how our schedule is set up — the competition seems to get harder as our season progresses,” Shaughnessy added.

Men’s tennis will take a break from Centennial Conference competition, hosting rival Washington and Lee University, 6th in the Atlantic South Region, Saturday March 29 at 11 a.m. “Washington and Lee is a tough opponent; I expect the men to be ready for a battle against the Generals because they are always up to play us. The matches should be close and I feel good about our chances if we can get off to a good start in doubles,” Coach Box said.

“They have always been our rivals while I have played for Swarthmore,” England added. “You can bet that we’ll be gunning for them on Saturday.”

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