Men’s and women’s tennis took fans on a rollercoaster ride this weekend as they opened Patriot League play. The men faced off against Army on Saturday, falling 6-1. They picked up and brushed off for Sunday’s matches, howev-er, as they pulled off a 5-2 win over Lafayette. The women also swung out of a 7-0 loss to Army to sweep Lafayette the following day.

The Colgate men lost their footing in dou-bles matches against Army, dropping all three points to the Black Knights. Junior duo Alec Goldstein and Parker Lewis dropped a close 8-6 match. Sophomore Luke Gensburg and teammate Sean Spellberg came up with the same result in the second doubles position.

In singles, first-year Alan Pleast was the only Raider to take away a win with a three-set victory. He took the final set in a 16-14 decision, the first in 6-0, and dropped the sec-ond. Gensburg also pushed his opponent into a third set, but ultimately lost the match in the top singles spot.

The men turned it around on Sunday af-ternoon against Lafayette. Gensburg and Spellberg occupied the top doubles spot for the first time this spring and secured an 8-3 win over their opponents. Sophomore Bobby Berkowitz and junior Harry Jewett took the second spot and were also victorious, walking off the court with an 8-2 win of their own. Junior John Beam and Goldstein tied 6-6 in their competition before the match was cut short because the doubles point had already been decided from other games being played simultaneously with theirs.

Colgate singles players fought fiercely in singles play. The men came out to win and secured four of the six matches, including matches in the top two spots. Berkowitz sat in the second position on the ladder and won in three sets. He took the first, 6-4, dropped the second, and came back in the third for a commanding 6-0 victory.

Goldstein and Spellberg occupied the third and fourth spots, respectively, and each pulled off Lafayette defeats. Pleat also took a three-set win. Senior Connor Feuille took up the sixth spot on the ladder, drop-ping a two-set match after battling out a second-set tie-breaker.

“On a windy and blustery [day], the men really stepped up and beat a very aggressive La-fayette team,” Head Coach Bobby Pennington said. “We can’t wait for Bucknell and Lehigh next weekend.”

The women’s team also split their weekend competitions, losing to Army and sweeping Lafayette. Army took all three doubles match-es. In singles play, sophomore Alex Petrini was the only Colgate player to reach a third set in her match.

Despite the faulty weekend start, the Raiders picked up the level of play just in time to com-pete against Lafayette. Colgate took all three doubles matches. Senior Stephanie Brown and Petrini occupied the top spot and secured an 8-2 victory, while sophomore Kelsey Shea and first-year Kelsey Wanhainen took an 8-3 win in the second spot. Juniors Merideth Rock and Jackie Finn swept their opponents in the third position on the ladder.

In singles, every single Colgate match was decided in only two sets. Petrini won at the top spot with a couple of 6-2 finishes as Shea came out in the second spot to win 6-1 and 6-3. Brown, Wanhainen, Rock and first-year Olivia Rauh finished it off with wins of their own.

“It was a huge for the women to get a much-needed conference win today,” Pen-nington said. “It is also nice that we are healthy going into the final stretch.”

The men’s team will play this weekend on the road in Pennsylvania as they face off against Bucknell on Friday and Lehigh on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., respectively. The women also hit the road as they play Buck-nell on Friday at 1:00 p.m. and Lehigh the following morning at 10:00 a.m..

Contact Emma Barge at [email protected].