by Henry Schneiderman
Last Friday, Jan. 26, the Fighting Scots men’s and women’s tennis teams ventured to the familiar confines of Aspen Racquet Club to face off against Hope College. Following a successful fall season, the Scots hoped to kick off the second semester with a bang by grounding the Flying Dutchmen.
The men’s campaign kicked off with a pair of wins from Jay Dixit ’27 and Anthony VanOyen ’27, who secured an 8-7 No. 1 doubles win. Later on, Wooster’s other two doubles duos — Shivam Dewan ’24 and Max Stratford ’27 as well as Arnav Yadav ’27 and Namit Misra ’26 — fell just short of victory in separate rallies that each ended 8-6. Shortly after, Yadav won for Wooster in the No. 4 singles flight.
Dewan, Misra and Bennet Dickerson ’27 posted strong efforts that were ultimately met with narrow defeat in the remaining singles flights. The men’s team finished with a narrow 5-4 defeat that left the squad with a thirst for victory in their upcoming matches. Ian Loh ’26 stated, “It felt great to start the match off for this new season, there were lots of new things we wanted to improve from our few matches last semester that we were able to try out today.” He added that “Even though we didn’t get the win, it was great to have the team playing again.”
This competition also marks the first men’s competitive event under new head coach Amy Behrman, who also serves as the lead coach for the women’s team. “Coach Amy has definitely had a positive impact,” Loh said, “it’s been a challenge getting used to doing things differently, like different drills, activities and team dynamics; however, it’s always great to try new things and, even though we may hit a few bumps, it’s okay because every day we’re working to something better.” Berhman is held in high esteem by the team and is prepared to lead the Scots as they progress through the season.
The women’s team played alongside the men, posing a fierce challenge to the Flying Dutchmen. Otilia Oita ’24 was the recipient of a hard-fought loss in the No. 1 singles flight with scores of 7-5 and 6-4, in the first and second sets respectively — while Janaki Jagannathan ’25 and Abby Williams ’26 found narrow defeat in the third set supertie breakers. Furthermore, Abby Aitken ’24, Lauren Richmond ’27 and Margaret Steward ’26 put up vicious efforts in their singles matches. The day ended 9-0 in favor of Hope College.
Despite this unfortunate start, the women’s team is a formidable force that finds itself unified and greatly optimistic about the remainder of the season. Steward commented on the team’s camaraderie, saying, “Our team is small, but we know each other really well and do everything to support each other! We cheer when we see good points and when we make mistakes. There’s lots of laughing and hugging after we get off the court, even if things went poorly, I love the team!”
Both teams will return to the Aspen Racquet Club on Feb. 2 as they seek their first victories of the season against John Carroll University.
