The Allegheny College tennis teams hosted the 7th Annual Nancy J. Heath Gator Invitational on Saturday. The tournament included Walsh University, Penn State Behrend, Carnegie Mellon and Indiana University of Pennsylvania and occupied 12 courts, with doubles matches followed by singles matches.
Both the men and the women reached the championship matches, but were unable to secure victories. Each team defeated Walsh, with the men beating them 6–3 while the women dominated, winning 8–1.
In the championship round, the men fell to the Carnegie Mellon Tartans 7–2, while the women suffered defeat at the hands of the IUP Crimson Hawks by the same score.
Despite two losses in the championship rounds, the Gators experienced several victories against tough competition.
Carnegie Mellon is ranked No. 8 nationally, while IUP, a Division II competitor, was ranked eighth in the Atlantic Region at the end of last year. Head coach Jared Luteran acknowledged the tough competition his team faced and expressed pride in their accomplishments this past weekend.
“We actually played really good matches against both of these teams,” he said. “I was really pleased with the whole weekend.”
Although suffering losses at the hands of tough competition, certain standout players managed to shine throughout the tournament.
“Our No. 1 doubles team for the women and the men both won which is really huge for them,” Luteran said.
Carolyn Shetter, ’14, and Sara Longo, ’11, defeated IUP’s No.1 doubles pairing 8–6 and Max Hennessy, ’13, and Uros Predic, ’13, beat the Tartans top doubles team 8–5.
Another bright spot of the weekend, Jonathan Jordan, ’13, defeated Carnegie Mellon’s Mason Radford (6–2, 6–4) in the No. 6 singles matchup. Deb Landau, ’12, was also able to secure a victory in singles for the Gators, defeating IUP’s Rahvita Manto.
Despite the various accomplishments already achieved by the team, they seek continuous growth. Looking back on the weekend, they recognize their weaknesses and hope to correct them.
“It was a close match,” Shetter, a doubles winner Saturday, said. “Overall the team played well. We just didn’t finish it out.”
Shetter and her teammates are looking forward to a strong season.
After the tournament, the team faced off against Mercyhurst at home Tuesday evening, but fell 8–1. They will travel to Ohio to participate in the Oberlin Invitational this weekend.
