Despite their slow start to the season, the men’s tennis team found their way to a win at Rhode Island Saturday.
The Owls finished the match 4-2.
“We won a hard-fought match,” coach Joe Mirabile said. “The boys won their doubles on tie breakers. That is always a tough way to start a match but we pulled it out in the end.”
While each of the Owls contributed in the effort, it was freshman Lawrence Caprio who had a memorable evening, also earning the first win of his career.
“It felt really good,” Caprio said. “Getting your first win is always great and something I will never forget.”
Along with Caprio, team captain and senior Zach Tobias did his part to put the Owls over the top.
Caprio helped the Owls start the match off 2-0 by winning doubles and singles play.
“It felt good to get the doubles victory,” Tobias said. “We had close double matches all night but won on tie breakers. Our freshmen came up really big in both doubles and singles which is a great sign.”
Tobias played in five single matches and gave the Owls their first of four points to lead them to victory.
It all came together for the Owls when junior Eduardo Saavedra won his singles match to clinch the victory.
“It was great to give points to the team and to win the match,” Saavedra said. “It was especially nice because some of our matches were so long and hard fought. Those are the hardest ones to win most of the time.”
Coach Steve Mauro was excited about his team’s win, but knows that keeping focus for the season is the key to success.
“The win was wonderful,” Mauro said. “Our goal is to keep momentum going for next week. We hope to play respectful against our opponents.”
Tobias, an experienced member of the squad, said he is excited about the rest of the season and knows what needs to be done to be successful.
“Our main goal is to play as a team throughout the season,” Tobias said. “We started off slow, but now we are in better shape. We are playing with a lot of heart and confidence now, and that is the key to winning.”
The Owls are now 2-3 overall and 1-0 in Atlantic Ten Conference play. Their next match is at Old Dominion on Friday. They return to conference play on Feb. 15 against Dayton.
Todd Miller can be reached at todd.miller@temple.edu.
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