The tennis teams opened their fall seasons yesterday against Grove City with the men’s squad defeating the Wolverines 8–1 but the women falling 6–3.
After winning all three doubles matches, the men took five of the six singles matches to run away with a decisive victory against a Grove City squad that has won 20 consecutive PAC titles.
Head Coach Jared Luteran pointed to the team’s doubles performance as a key factor to the outcome.
“To start a match winning all three doubles matches, that really makes me happy,” he said.
Winning the doubles matches doesn’t guarantee a win though, and the Gators were able to show their team character in the heat of very tight contests.
“We had some close matches in singles, and we pulled them out, so that was nice to see guys that are mentally tough,” Luteran said.
The women’s squad was faced with a Grove City team that has been even more dominant than the men (with 23 straight conference titles), but stayed competitive considering Grove City already had many matches under their belt.
“We have several new people in the lineup, and it was the first time for the doubles teams,” Luteran said.
Top performers for the Gators were Jonathan Jordan, ’13, for the men and Carolyn Shetter, ’14 for the women. Jordan won in both singles (6–2, 6–1) and doubles (8–2) matches, while Shetter won 6–3, 3–6, 1–0.
