After playing hard for the entire spring season, the men’s and women’s tennis teams had their seasons come to rough ends.

Although the men did not qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, the women traveled to West Point last weekend to square off against top-seeded Army in the Patriot League semifinals. The women lost to Army, 6-1, earlier in the season, but they hoped that they could reverse their fates this time around.

The match did not get off to a good start for the women, as they lost the doubles point. Junior Jackie Couture and sophomore Alex Seaton won at first doubles, but the second and third doubles could not come up with a victory. The win at doubles was Seaton’s 21st doubles victory of the year, which set an all-time Colgate record for most doubles wins by a player in one season.

After losing the doubles point, the women knew that they needed to regroup quickly if they wanted any chance of winning. However, the singles matches would not go the women’s way; they lost the match by a score of 4-0, as the match ended once Army clinched the fourth point.

Every Raider fought hard, no one more so that senior Lil Vo, who played in the match despite an injured ankle. The match was the last one of her career, but she showed great strength by coming out and competing. Vo has been a huge part of the Colgate tennis program and there is no doubt she will be missed next season.

Despite the loss, head coach Patrick Fisher was not disappointed in his team’s performance.

“We played hard and fought as much as we could,” he said. “I just think we ran out of gas after a long season. Injuries have really hurt us and we were definitely not 100 percent coming into this match. Lil Vo made a brave effort to play and she showed that she is a warrior. Even though we lost, this was a huge accomplishment, considering all the adversity we faced to qualify.”

No one could complain about the women’s season. They finished with a strong 9-9 overall record and a Patriot League Tournament berth. It is clear that everyone is optimistic for next season.

Even though the team loses a crucial player in Vo, it has six returning players coming back and four incoming first-years. Not only that, but the team has probably two of the top players in the league returning in Couture and Seaton. Next year, they will have a great chance to take home the league title.

While the women clinched a playoff berth, the men’s season ended prematurely.

The men were close all season, but Fisher realized that it just wasn’t enough.

“We were in great position to qualify, but one flat weekend against Lehigh came back to haunt us,” Fisher said. “We played really well the last weekend of the season, but it wasn’t enough. We showed we can beat the best when we took out Navy, but sometimes things just do not go your way.”

Even though the team’s finish disappointed the Raiders, junior Marshall Wheeler is still optimistic for the team’s future.

“Obviously not making the Patriot League Tournament was a huge disappointment for us,” he said.”However, we have to look at this year as a rebuilding year.Not having any senior leadership was a new experience for everyone on the team, but we showed that we have a lot of potential going into next season.Adding a couple freshmen to the team next year will add to our depth, and I expect us to contend for the league title and a shot at NCAA’s in 2007.”

The men finished the season with a 6-12 overall record and a 3-3 record in the Patriot League. The team not only has all seven players from this year’s lineup coming back, but they have two first-years coming in. The future of the men’s team looks bright, as they will definitely be a Patriot League championship contender next season.

The Colgate tennis program looks to have a great future ahead of it, as the two teams are only losing one senior combined for next season. Both teams played very well this year and there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that both the men and women have an excellent shot at taking the Patriot League Championship next season.