Men’s Tennis earns at least a share of 74th consecutive MIAA crown
By: Daniel Herrick, Staff Writer
With a 9-0 win at Trine on April 17th, the Men’s Tennis team guaranteed themselves a share of the MIAA regular season title, extending their regular season championship streak to 74 years. Sophomore Skippy Faber said, “[Winning the conference] is always the first goal that we have as a team because it is our responsibility to continue the streak of excellence in-conference play so we can continue to get opportunities to play in the NCAA tournament.”
At Trine, Faber was a victor at both number five singles and three doubles. Senior Nate Eddy won the number one singles match in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. Eddy and fellow senior Mark Denenfeld cruised to victory at number one doubles, 8-6.
On Wednesday, April 19th, the Hornets lost to cross-town Division I foe Western Michigan University 7-0. Despite the disappointing loss, the exhibition match against Western allowed the Hornets valuable match experience against a Division I team. “Because it was an exhibition match, we were really able to work on different aspects of our game in real match situations against great opponents, which can be an extremely useful alternative to normal practices,” Faber added.
The Hornets regained their posture with a 9-0 win against Coe College at Markin Racquet Center on Friday, April 20th. Denenfeld won in straight sets at number two singles 6-2, 6-3. Senior Alex Dombos was also a straight-set winner in number three singles 7-5, 6-1.
Kalamazoo finishes out their regular season schedule at home against Alma on Wednesday, April 25th. A win would guarantee the Hornets the MIAA regular season title outright. Faber said the next goal for the team is winning the MIAA tournament, which is played on May 3rd and 4th. A win in the MIAA tournament would give the Hornets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. From there, Kalamazoo would look to win their region and take a spot among the final eight teams in the nation.
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