Goshen, IN — The Goshen College men’s tennis team cruised to an 8-1 team win over Anderson University at the Goshen College Tennis Complex Thursday afternoon, the team’s second largest margin of victory on the season.
The result was second in spread only to a 9-0 defeat of Mid-Central Conference rival Grace College on Sept. 11 (click here for related article), as Goshen (3-6, 2-5) used an alternate lineup to hand the Ravens a rare autumn loss — as an NCAA Division III institution, Anderson’s regular season occurs in the spring.
“We modified our lineup for this non-conference match, playing some guys at singles who normally do not play and changing our number one doubles team,” said Stan King, Goshen head coach. “It was good to be able to do this and still pull of a team win. That’s a credit to the guys on the team.”
King was without senior and top player Beakal Girma, so freshman Sashi Sabanathan moved to number one singles (from number two), sophomore Joel King to number two (from number three) and freshman Chanuk Algama to number three (from number six). Stan King then inserted newcomers into the mix, as senior Ashe Abebe, freshman Jordan Kauffman and freshman Ben Toews rounded off the bottom half of the singles’ lineup, all making their first appearances of the season at their respective flights.
The results were impressive, as only Kauffman failed to capture a straight-set win, falling to Anderson’s Jake Tandy in Goshen’s only succumbed point of the afternoon.
“Ashe and Ben, who normally do not play singles, had nice wins at number four and six,” Stan King said. “Sashi, Joel and Chanuk all won in rather short order at higher positions than they normally play.”
Algama was the lead man in both singles and doubles, teaming with Sabanathan at the number one pairs flight for an 8-1 win and capturing a 6-1, 6-0 win over AU’s Aron Kicken in the number three singles match. Toews was also impressive in singles action, taking a 6-4, 6-3 decision from Anderon’s Kyle Mountsier in number six action.
“The Sri Lankan duo of Sabanathan and Algama played some strong doubles on their way to a convincing win,” Stan King said. “Our regular number two and three doubles teams also took care of business rather handily.”
The Leafs will return to the courts in an exhibition match as part of homecoming weekend on Saturday, taking on GC alumni at 11 a.m. Goshen’s next intercollegiate match is set for Tuesday, when the team will host Indiana University-Southeast at 3 p.m.
“We will enjoy this weekend and then have one more match to prepare us for the upcoming MCC Tournament (next weekend),” Stan King said. “Hopefully we can play our best tennis of the year at that point.”
Singles:
#1 Sashi Sabanathan (G) def Ki McCurdy 6-1, 6-2
#2 Joel King (G) def Chris Rowe 6-4, 6-2
#3 Chanuk Algama (G) def Aron Kicken 6-1, 6-0
#4 Ashe Abebe (G) def Zach McCurdy 6-1, 6-1
#5 Jake Tandy (A) def Jordan Kauffman 6-0, 6-2
#6 Ben Toews (G) def Kyle Mountsier 6-4, 6-3
Doubles:
#1 Sabanathan/Algama (G) def K. McCurdy/Dicken 8-1
#2 Domínguez/King (G) def Tandey/Rowe 8-2
#3 Good/Abebe (G) def Z. McCurdy/Mountsier 8-4
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Freshman Ben Toews