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OCT.
3 — Leafs Falter Against Taylor, Themselves In Loss
Squad's
less than stellar performance overall no match for annual
power Taylor |
Goshen, IN — Alone, the Taylor University men’s tennis program
is difficult to beat. Combine that with less than one’s best effort,
and it is nearly impossible to knock off the Trojans.
Such was the case Tuesday night at the Goshen College Tennis
Complex, as the Leafs suffered a 2-7 loss to Mid-Central Conference
foe Taylor in an effort that was sub-par nearly across the
board. Taylor took two of the three doubles contests
to open the match, and Goshen (6-4, 2-4) struggled in key singles
points to pick up just one more team tally.
“Taylor was too much for us today, but we should take this team
loss as one that could have had a more favorable outcome,” said Stan
King, Goshen head coach. “A couple of points at the right time could
have turned this match into a win. It just wasn’t there for us today.”
Goshen did receive stellar play at its number one doubles slot,
as junior Beakal Girma teamed with sophomore Shyam Sabanathan for an 8-5
win over Taylor’s Greg Branda and Stephen Leman. Perhaps the biggest
blow to the Leafs’ hopes on the day came in the number two doubles
match, where freshmen Aaron Sutter and Joel King dropped a heartbreaking,
8-6 decision to give up a key team point.
“Aaron Sutter and Joel King had great opportunities to win their
number two doubles match, but Taylor’s duo came back to win the last
three games and take the match 8-6,” said Stan King. “By losing
number three doubles as well, the team found itself down 1-2
going into singles against a team that’s been playing better singles
than doubles this season.”
Taylor quickly dispatched Goshen at both the number two and four
singles positions, claiming a monstrous 4-1 lead while the remaining four
singles matches continued on the court. Sabanathan turned out to be the Leafs’ only
winner — a 6-4, 6-3 win at the number five position — though
coach Stan King said there were several more opportunities for points that
didn’t transpire.
“Joel King came back from 2-5 deficits in both sets only to lose
in a tie-breaker and 6-4 to Taylor’s strong number three singles player,” he
said. “Beakal Girma’s loss at number one singles was characterized
by great effort and exciting play. (Senior) JD Windhorst battled
at number six singles but couldn’t overcome the many unforced errors.
This was not a good day for Aaron Sutter and (sophomore) Sheldon Good whose
play lacked
luster, though they were up against strong opponents at number
two and number four singles. Shyam Sabanathan played a smart, all-court match
at number
five singles, winning 6-4, 6-3 by varying the pace of his ground
strokes and mixing his net play with deep, crisp volleys and drop shots.”
Goshen will take a day to hit the practice courts and then return
to MCC action Thursday, when the team hosts Spring Arbor
University in a make-up date from last Saturday’s rain-out. Match
time is set for 3 p.m.
Singles:
#1 Jorge Burmicky (T) def Beakal Girma 6-4, 6-3
#2 Greg Branda (T) def Aaron Sutter 6-2, 6-0
#3 Dave Smith (T) def Joel King 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
#4 Kyle Brown (T) def Sheldon Good 6-0, 6-2
#5 Shyam Sabanathan (G) def Andrew Miller 6-4, 6-3
#6 Stephen Leman (T) def J D Windhorst 6-3, 6-2
Doubles:
#1 Girma/Sabanathan (G) def Branda/Leman 8-5
#2 Brown/Perkins (T) def Sutter/King 8-6
#3 Burmicki/Smith (T) def Windhorst/Yoder
8-1
Exhibition Match:
Evan Atkinson (T) def Tim Yoder 6-2, 6-1
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  Sophomore
Shyam Sabanathan
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