While Hamilton, NY was covered with record snowfall, the Colgate men’s tennis team was enjoying a trip to Hawaii. During their week away, the team played

matches against the University of Hawaii at Hilo, BYU-Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific University. The spring break trip was made possible with the help of the Schonbraun family, who has helped make trips happen for the last four seasons. 

The Raiders started off the trip strong on Wednesday, March 15 with a 5-4 win over the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Despite the 90-degree heat, both teams came out strong to make it a close match. Head coach Bobby Pennington knew the match would be tight after entering singles matches up 2-1. Colgate relied on the doubles teams of senior Bobby Alter and sophomore Noah Rosenblat, as well as seniors Win Reynolds and Dean Koman, to gain this lead. After the two teams split the six singles matches, Colgate outlasted Hawaii for the 5-4 win. Coach Pennington was proud of the victory and knew who had led the team in their spring break opener.

“Game balls [went] to Alter and Reynolds for winning both singles and doubles,” Pennington said. “Also, major credit to Koman for holding to clinch doubles and Dardis for being 7 and 1 on year.” 

The following day, the team unsuccessfully challenged a very competitive BYU-Hawaii squad. Despite the loss, there were some positives to take as the team again split the singles matches against a talented BYU roster. Junior Jacob Daugherty shined in the match, winning in doubles with senior partner Jake Hirschberg and taking the first flight singles match in three sets. Additionally, Alter took the victory in the No. 3 singles match, while sophomore Alec Dardis took a victory in the No. 6 singles.

The Raiders showed some fatigue in the last match of the trip, which was also their fourth match in seven days, as they fell to Hawaii Pacific 7-0. Hawaii Pacific won the NCAA Division II National Championship last year, making this matchup even more daunting for the Colgate squad. They will look to shake this tough loss off over their two week off period that follows the trip as they prepare for upcoming Patriot League play. Coach Pennington reflected on the week away after the final match. 

“I would first like to thank the Schonbraun family for helping make the fourth year of the cycle a tremendous success,” Pennington said. “I can see why Hawaii Pacific is defending National Champs as they play at an extremely high level. Our guys looked like a team who has had four brutal matches in seven days. Credit to Daugherty and Rosenblat for pushing their opponents to the limits. We are 5 and 5 at the halfway point and getting tougher and tougher. The goal is to peak exactly a month from now when the postseason is in full force.”

The next action for Colgate will be on Saturday, April 1, when they host the

Lehigh Mountain Hawks. They hope to end their losing streak, continue momentum towards capturing a Patriot League title and make a run at qualifying for the NCAA national tournament. This will be the second to last league match held at home for the seniors on the team, so every game counts, and hopefully they can get the wins.