The women’s tennis team defeated the Dukes, 6-1, but the men’s team lost, 4-3, last Saturday.
The men’s and women’s tennis teams took on the Duquesne Dukes at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Center last Saturday, and while the women walked away with a 6-1 victory, the men fell, 4-3.
The men’s team was led by sophomore Filip Rams, who won his match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. He and his brother, Kacper, also won their doubles match, 9-8, but it was not enough to pull out the victory.
The Dukes loudly and enthusiastically cheered about every point they won, which coach Steve Mauro said may have factored into the match.
“I’m not a big rah-rah guy,” Mauro said, “but it really seemed to work for them. They seemed to feed off the energy and use it to their advantage.”
The loss may come back to haunt the men’s team. With the Atlantic Ten Tournament coming up, the Owls could find themselves in a position where they do not receive a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. The top two seeds do not have to play two games the first day of the A-10 Tournament. The loss to Duquesne gives the Owls two conference losses (6-8 overall record, 3-2 A-10).
“I still think we can get a 1 or 2 seed,” Mauro said. “Even if we don’t, we have confidence that we can still win the conference. We won’t let this stop us. We are better than we played today, and we will show that in the conference tournament,” Mauro said.
The women’s side was not nearly as heated a battle as the men’s, as the Owls took care of the Dukes quite easily with a 6-1 victory, including a three-set thrilling win for freshman May Johnson.
Johnson won the match, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). After dropping the first set, she came back to win the second and third sets. The victory improves her record to 9-5. She also teamed up with junior Theresa Stangl to get an 8-3 win in doubles and end a three-match doubles losing streak.
The win for the women’s squad was its first A-10 victory of the season. The Owls are now 1-2 in conference play and 5-9 overall.
The men’s team will be in action today at Saint Joseph’s. The Owls will also play at the Temple Pavilion Friday against Hofstra. The women travel to St. Joe’s Thursday and George Washington Saturday.
Ryan Rosengrant can be reached at ryan.rosengrant@temple.edu.
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