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OCT.
1 — Leafs Conclude Regular Season In Loss At Taylor
Goshen
looks to sneak up in this week's Mid-Central Conference
Tournament |
Upland, IN — With the Mid-Central Conference Tournament less than one
week away, the Goshen College men’s tennis team was hoping to use Saturday
afternoon’s regular-season finale at Taylor University as a tune up
for post-season play.
Following its 9-0 loss to the host Trojans, the squad now hopes
it was an aberration.
Goshen (2-6, 1-6) couldn’t get much of anything going Saturday afternoon,
dropping all singles matches in straight sets while providing little resistance
in doubles play as well. Junior Tim Yoder (a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Taylor’s
Scott Schmeissing at number four singles) and freshman Sheldon Good (a 6-2,
6-2 loss to Taylor’s Kyle Brown at number four) were the most consistent
performers on the day for the Leafs, while the number two doubles team of
Yoder and freshman Shyam Sabanathan were the most successful doubles pair
in an 8-4 loss at number two.
“Taylor played very well today and outplayed us at every position,” said
Stan King, Goshen head coach. “We couldn’t seem to get points
at critical times to win games, so not only was the 9-0 match
score lopsided, but most set scores were also very one-sided. The match started
with doubles
which seemed to set the tone for the rest of the match. Taylor
came out very aggressively in doubles and we struggled to put points on the
board. Our
play in subsequent singles matches seemed pretty flat for the
most part, with few sustained rallies and poor shot selection.”
The loss was especially disappointing coming on the heels of
an exciting, 5-4 win over Earlham College on Tuesday, where Goshen
appeared to be collectively heading in the right direction and
playing its best tennis
of
the season. Still, King said he believes his team has the chance
to possibly surprise some people at the upcoming Mid-Central
Conference Tournament.
“I expected our final regular season match at Taylor to be a real
challenge, but with the type of tennis we now seem capable of
playing, I believe, regardless of outcome, we're going to show some good
effort,” King
said. “We have three practices before the MCC tourney in Fort Wayne.
I hope we’ll be able to use them to pick up the level of our play and
our spirits.”
Goshen will next compete in the conference’s annual three-day post-season
tournament. The Leafs will face off against fellow league teams beginning
Thursday at Fort Wayne Concordia. For detailed information on the flighted
tournament and results, click here.
Singles:
#1 Jorge Burmicky (T) def Beakal Girma 6-0, 6-4
#2 Greg Branda (T) def Shyam Sabanathan 6-2, 6-0
#3 Kyle Brown (T) def Sheldon Good 6-3, 6-1
#4 Scott Schmeissing (T) def Tim Yoder 6-2, 6-2
#5 Stephen Leman (T) def Jason Yoder 6-0, 6-0
#6 Ben Billman (T) def Matt Harms 6-0, 6-2
Doubles:
#1 Jorge Burmicky/Greg Branda (T) def Beakal Girma/Sheldon Good
8-3
#2 Kyle Brown/Scott Schmeissing (T) def Shyam Sabanathan/Tim
Yoder 8-4
#3 Stephen Leman/Ben Billman (T) def Jason Yoder/Chris Neumann
8-0
Exhibition Match: Evan Atkinson (T) def Chris Neumann 6-1,
6-3
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  Freshman
Sheldon Good
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