Men and women’s tennis opened their spring seasons this week with a surge of post-break energy. The women had an inspiring start to the season with a pair of victories, winning 5-2 against the Manhattan College Jaspers and scoring an impressive 7-0 over the University of

Hartford Hawks.

The men’s team put in a solid effort as well, though suffering a 0-7 loss to the University at Buffalo Bulls and narrowly missing the win against the Bryant

University Bulldogs, in a 3-4 loss.

The women didn’t win without breaking a sweat, however. The early stages of the Manhattan showdown proved difficult for the Raiders’

doubles teams.

Only senior Merideth Rock and

junior Kelsey Shea earned a victory,

which unfortunately meant losing the doubles point. However, the matchup was salvaged when five of the six singles matches culminated in Colgate triumph. First-year Jennifer Ho had an especially impressive match, beating her opponent in a two-set shutdown of 6-4, 6-2.

The next day the team hit the road for another showdown at Hartford. However, with their 1-0 record securely established, the women beat the Hawks easily, reaching a sturdy 2-0 record to start the season.

“I am incredibly pleased with the way the women opened the season,” head coach Bobby Pennington said.

The women crushed the competition, and are in good standing going into the

remainder of the season.

The men weren’t as sucessful. At

Buffalo, they lost the doubles point early, and went on to the singles matches. Unfortunately, the men all lost in straight sets, though junior Luke Gensburg put up a good fight, losing only 6-4, 6-4.

The match against Bryant was more of a nail-biter, coming down to the outcome of a single match. After losing the coveted doubles point, Colgate stayed strong and won three of the six

singles matches.

Gensburg earned a victory this time, as well as first-year Mark Pronchick and senior John Beam. Unfortunately, the Raiders could not pull through and lost the match-up by just one point.

With the women off to a solid 2-0 start, and the men with a few early losses out of their system, tennis has had a good first week back.

Next week, both men and women’s teams will be facing off against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies and the University of

Rochester Yellowjackets.

Contact Liza Sawyer at

[email protected].