What better way to celebrate the recent eerie weather at the ‘Gate than by playing some tennis? Let it be known that the Colgate men’s and women’s tennis teams have successfully concluded their fall tournaments by leaving a destructive wake of downtrodden foes. However, no matter how well they played, they just couldn’t battle Al Gore and his mid-October Global Warming snow storm that cancelled a couple of days of tournament play.

The men’s tennis team has enjoyed a lot individual success this fall season, and senior captain Martin MacIntyre laid the foundation what looks to be an exciting tennis season for the men’s team this spring. MacIntyre was named the Patriot League’s Player of the Month twice for his astounding play in September and October. MacIntyre co-captained the team last year and earned first team all-Patriot League honors as well as the Patriot League Player of the Year award. MacIntyre is surrounded by a cast of talented juniors John Nogueras and Michael Yassky, who comprise the back-bone of the line-up. Also, exceptional play has been exhibited by a lineup deep with first-years and sophomores.

On September 19 and 20 the men’s team headed over to Brown University where it competed in the Northeast Intercollegiate Tournament. After four grueling rounds of play, MacIntyre took home the Flight 1 Singles championship after beating Brown’s Skate Gorham 7-5, 6-3. Nogueras won three of his four matches in the Flight 1 Singles and placed ninth after defeating Collin Laffey of Lehigh.

With a recent Flight 1 Singles championship on his mind, MacIntyre and the troops headed to the Dartmouth Shootout on October 3 through October 5. MacIntyre as he made it to the finals of the Flight 1 Singles, but he lost to Dartmouth’s Daniel Freeman 6-4, 6-3. Junior Michael Yassky and first-year Ron Richter toppled Buffalo’s Steve Kopf and Joe Heckley, 8-4 in the first round before getting knocked out in the second round by Boston University.

The conclusion of the men’s fall schedule was the Cornell Invitational on Halloween. The Colgate team really came together this game as six underclassmen stepped up and played significant roles in the Flight B Singles bracket. First-year Connor Feuille and sophomore Ruslan Goussiantnikov each advanced to the second round of the bracket but were knocked out by Jay Bartischevich of Binghamton and Daniel Quesada of Fairleigh Dickinson, respectively. An uncharacteristic early exit from MacIntyre in the first round of the Flight 1 Singles sent him to the Flight A consolation bracket where he made it to the quarterfinal round and lost a tough match to Buffalo’s Marcelo Mazzetto 7-6, 6-7, 10-5. The Raiders have their work cut out for them this offseason, and they hope to improve on the success they had in the fall league when they take on the Stags of Fairfield for the first match of the year on Friday, January 24.

“We saw that we are capable of doing some serious damage in the Patriot League this spring,” team captain Martin MacIntyre said.

Colgate’s women tennis kicked off the same week as the men as they headed over to Ithaca for the Cornell Fall Invitational. However, the women didn’t enjoy as much success as the men did, as they fought hard but ultimately fought an uphill struggle at this tournament. Junior captain Elise DeRose and junior Samantha Inacker both played in Flight A Singles and each respectively lost in the first round in two sets. Senior Erin Fenn was the only Colgate player to advance to the second round of the Flight B Singles bracket.

Looking to rebound from the poor performance at Cornell, the Lady Raiders knew they had to rebound. Elise DeRose was looking to set a good example for the upcoming season, as she won the Flight 1 Singles championship at the Bucknell Invitational on Sunday, October 5 by beating opponents from Quinnipiac, UConn and Bucknell. DeRose continued her success in Flight 1 Doubles with first-year partner Alexandra Erickson as the duo made it to the third round of play but eventually lost.

The women’s tennis team looks to improve on their performance with the leadership of Elise DeRose and Erin Fenn, one of two seniors on the team.

“We are definitely still in the building stages but the fall competition gave us a really good indication of what we need to work on for the spring. We’ve seen a lot of improvement as a team over the past few months and there’s a lot of potential left to build upon. If we can continue to work I think we’ll be ready to compete at the top of the Patriot League,” Fenn says on the upcoming season.

Colgate tennis will resume in January with team play. With tons of young talent and senior leadership on both squads, both teams seem to be formidable opponents this year. Will the mentorship of MacIntyre, DeRose and Fenn be enough to guide these teams to the Patriot League finals? The off-season is where champions are made, and if these teams are hungry enough, the answer is most definitely yes.