On Sept. 17, the Tigers men’s tennis team opened their fall season at home against NCAA Division III Nebraska Wesleyan University. At the start of the match, the Tigers lost the doubles points early into the match. The Tigers could only win the two doubles matches played by senior Andre Hartman and the sophomore Elliot Dassel as the victors. In the end, the Tigers were able to achieve a big win 4-3.
After starting doubles on the wrong foot, Doane turned a corner in singles. The singles match started to turn it around and helped them get the victory. Senior Jose Purizaca had a straight-set victory at one-singles with scores being 6-1 and 6-0. The Tigers continued strong singles play with Hartman winning 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 1-0 (10-1) at three-singles and Dassel won 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) at four-singles. With these results, the team score was 3-2, thanks to a strong rebound in singles matches in the tie-breaks matches.
With a 6-3, 6-4 victory in five-singles, sophomore Julio Avila continued Doane’s singles win streak and gave the Tigers the victory. Freshman Christian Jensen lost the last set 3-6, 6-2, 0-1 (7-10) in a tie-break that decided the match at six-singles. Jensen’s loss did not lose Doane the series, however, as the men’s tennis team was able to deliver a victory (4-3) to start the fall season at home.
Next up for men’s tennis is the ITA Tournament in Salina, Kansas. This tournament will be held on Friday, Sept. 20 and Saturday, Sept. 21. Qualifiers for the tournament were not announced at the time of this release.
On Sept. 17, the Tigers Women’s Tennis team could not win their second game against NCAA Division III Nebraska Wesleyan University, losing 3-4 in a tightly contested match.
Doane prevailed at one-doubles in the doubles match, with sophomore Maria Purizaca and freshman Liz Calderon triumphing in a 6-2 win. In the match determining the first team point, NWU prevailed 7-6 (7-5) in a tie-break at two-doubles.
Purizaca prevailed in straight sets at one-singles, 6-0, 6-1. Calderon also won the two-single match 6-2, 7-5, in straight sets. Doane’s last win came at six-singles, when the sophomore Kat Johnson prevailed after her opponent was forced to retire in the second set because of an injury.
All Doane players showed great effort for the victory, but it could not be achieved. The final result was 3-4 and Doane lost, with their first win escaping them.
The women’s tennis team’s next match will take place in Salina, Kansas, at the ITA Tournament. The two players that are selected for the ITA tournament are Purizaca and Calderon.
