There were several exciting developments in the world of tennis last weekend as two particular events were extremely noteworthy. At the Australian Open, my favorite tennis player, Serbian sensation Novak Djokovic, became famous for more than his hilarious impersonations (check them out on YouTube for an automatic laugh) by winning his first Grand Slam title. In spite of Djokovic’s accomplishment of becoming the first Serbian man to win a Grand Slam, even he could not overshadow the women’s tennis team’s domination last weekend.

The women traveled to Niagara, New York last Friday to face York University of Toronto and Niagara University. The Raiders destroyed their opponents by winning 13 of 14 matches, as they shutout York University, 7-0 last Friday and defeated Niagara, 6-1 last Saturday. Buffalo native and sophomore Elise DeRose thoroughly enjoyed her homecoming, going undefeated in both singles and doubles. First-year Stephanie Bender started her spring season in style by winning every game in her two singles matches. Sophomore Jackie Stimmel continued her winning ways from the fall season, easily winning both her singles matches.

The Windy City trio of junior captain Erin Fenn, sophomores Cameron Williams and Samantha Inacker also performed well, combining for six doubles victories and five singles wins. Fenn won a tight match against Niagara’s Victoria Tiso, winning 7-5, 6-3. Williams has risen from the sixth to the third spot and she is playing well. She defeated both of her opponents convincingly on these two occasions. The first doubles tandem of sophomores Sam Inacker and DeRose defeated two tough teams from Niagara and York, relying on Inacker’s monstrous serves and DeRose’s piercing groundstrokes. At second doubles, Williams and Bender crushed their opponents, only dropping two games in two matches. Fenn and Stimmel combined to form the third doubles team, and like their teammates, dominated their match.

The women’s tennis will travel to Marist on Sunday, February 16th for a dual meet.

Meanwhile, the men’s tennis team had their first two dual matches of the season last weekend, but unfortunately, they lost both against Niagara and Duquesne University. On Saturday, the Raiders lost a heartbreaker to Niagara, falling 4-3. Colgate was unlucky in doubles, as the number one team of junior Martin MacIntyre and senior Tyler Deck and the third doubles team of senior Sam Jacobson and first-year Ruslan Goussiantnikov both fell in tiebreakers, 9-8. The Raiders picked up singles wins from the middle of their lineup. First-year Phil Bernasek, sophomores John Nogueras and Michael Yassky notched singles victories in the third, fourth and fifth spots respectively. Colgate was unable to get the elusive fourth pick win, as Niagara won the first, second and sixth singles matches.

The Raiders faced another tough opponent on Sunday and were unable to pick up their first win of the season against Duquesne, losing 5-2. Colgate’s two victories came from the first and fifth singles spots. MacIntyre won a tight match at first singles, defeating Michael Ortega 7-6, 4-6, 10-4. Yassky was also victorious, handing Jeremy McClelland a 6-3, 7-5 loss. In doubles action, Colgate picked up a win in first doubles, as MacIntyre and Deck prevailed 8-5 over Michael Ortega and Mikael Rasner.

Men’s tennis will take this weekend off to prepare for their next match against St. Joseph’s on February 9th.