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SEPT.
15 — Early Promise Fades Late Against Rival Bethel
Goshen
wins match's first points but no more; three-match win
streak snapped |
Goshen, IN — Riding a season-opening, three-match winning streak — a
feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 2002 — the Goshen College
men’s tennis team had a collective momentum heading into Friday’s
match with Mid-Central Conference rival Bethel College.
That surge continued into Friday’s first two matches, but then came
to a grinding halt.
Goshen (3-1, 0-1) could not find its fourth consecutive team
victory despite winning the first two doubles matches against Bethel Friday
afternoon, dropping a 2-7 decision to the visiting Pilots in a disappointing
conclusion. After Freshmen Joel King and Aaron Sutter claimed an 8-6 win
at number two doubles and seniors JD Windhorst and Tim Yoder did the same
at number the number three position, the Leafs could find no more points
on the day.
“I felt like this match was winnable and a lot closer than the
score indicates, and I commend our players for playing hard throughout
and giving all they had,” said Goshen head coach Stan King. “Hopefully
we learned a lot as individual players and as a team and will
be able to put this experience to good use in our upcoming matches.”
Bethel swept Goshen in singles play and took an 8-0 win at number
one doubles, defeating the Leafs’ Beakal Girma (junior) and Shyam Sabanathan
(sophomore). That win led to a variety of close victories in singles competition,
as Goshen was able to take two of the three singles slots into third sets — one
of which went into a third-set super tie-breaker.
“Our number one doubles team of Beakal Girma and Shyam Sabanathan
played some great points, but inconsistency was costly in their
8-0 loss to a strong Bethel doubles pair,” Stan King said. “In
singles play, we had a number of guys fight hard. We just couldn’t
get over the hump on any court.”
Leading the way in singles was sophomore Sheldon Good, who dropped
a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 decision to Bethel’s Zachary Grubbs at the number four
position. Windhorst dropped a 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 10-8 (super tie-breaker) result
at the number six slot, while Joel King had a hard-fought battle with the
Pilots’ Josh Kiefer in a 6-3, 6-3 defeat.
“Joel King and Sheldon Good lost to two very good counter punchers,” Stan
King said. “However, I believe these matches could have been added
to Goshen’s win column had we used a more aggressive, attacking style
of play. JD Windhorst had some success with aggressive play against
another counter puncher at number six singles, and though he
was able to win the
second set in a tiebreaker, he lost 10-8 in a super tie-breaker
played instead of a third set.”
Sabanathan’s nagging arm injury continued to be a concern for coach
King Friday, as again he manned the number five singles position and was
forced to retire in a 6-0, 1-0 decision.
“Shyam Sabanathan’s cronic upper arm injury flared up again early
in his singles causing him to retire early in the second set,” Stan
King said. “A healthy Sabanathan could add much to the success of the
team.”
The squad will not have much time to get healthy, however, as
the team travels to MCC foe Indiana Wesleyan University Saturday. Match time
is set for 11 a.m.
Singles:
#1 Kiko Cortes (B) def Beakal Girma 6-1, 7-5
#2 Joel Dendiu (B) def Aaron Sutter 6-0, 7-5
#3 Josh Kiefer (B) def Joel King 6-3, 6-3
#4 Zachary Grubbs (B) def Sheldon Good 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
#5 Ryan Yoder (B) def Shyam Sabanathan 6-0, 1-0 retired
#6 Jared Shriner (B) def J D Windhorst 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 10-8 (super
set)
Doubles:
#1 Kiko Cortes/Joel Dendiu (B) def Beakal Girma/Shyam Sabanathan
8-0
#2 Aaron Sutter/Joel King (G) def Zachary Grubbs/Jared Shriner
8-6
#3 J D Windhorst/Tim Yoder (G) def Josh Kiefer/Mikael Dodge 8-6
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  Sophomore
Sheldon Good
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