Men Split, Women Sweep in Tennis’ Trip to Maine
In their second week of NESCAC competition, the men’s and women’s tennis teams played away matches against Bowdoin and Colby. The men’s team defeated Colby but lost to Bowdoin, while the women’s team achieved convincing victories in both matches.
Both men’s and women’s tennis teams traveled to Maine over the weekend to play NESCAC Mainers Bowdoin and Colby on Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, on each team’s respective home court. The No. 9-ranked women’s team flexed their muscles in both their matches, defeating No. 16-ranked Bowdoin and No. 32-ranked Colby by identical 8-1 scores. The No. 20-ranked men’s team fell in a tight matchup against No. 7-ranked Bowdoin 4-5, before defeating No. 33-ranked Colby 8-1.
Women
Playing indoors on Saturday, April 2, the Mammoths dominated Bowdoin for their second NESCAC victory of the season. The three doubles pairs of Jackie Bukzin ’22 and Mia Kintiroglou ’25, Julia Lendel ’24 and Deliala Friedman ’25, and Amy Cui ’25 and Anya Ramras ’22 swept the opposite pairs of Polar Bears, winning 8-2, 8-4, and 8-2 respectively. The Mammoths continued their stunning display of supremacy into their singles matches, as they won five of six matches in straight sets to secure the 8-1 win.
The Mammoths carried their momentum into Sunday’s match against Colby to secure their third NESCAC victory of the year. They matched their results from the previous day, convincingly sweeping the three doubles matches with scores of 8-3, 8-3, and 9-1, and winning five of six single matches.
With a 5-4 overall record and a 3-1 record in the NESCAC, the Mammoths look ahead to a home match against No. 8-ranked Middlebury on Saturday, April 9. They will then travel to Williamstown, Massachusetts, to battle perennial rival No. 18-ranked Williams the following day.
Men
The men faced one of their toughest challenges of the season against Bowdoin. They lost by the finest of margins, 4-5, for their first conference loss of the season. The top doubles pairing of Damien Ruparel ’22 and Sujit Chepuri ’25 continued to dominate, winning their single-set match 8-5. The other two pairings, Harris Foulkes ’22/Ed Opie’25 and Kobe Ellenborgen ’25/Micah Elias ’24, lost.
Many of the singles matches were lopsided affairs. Ruparel dropped his match at the top of the ladder 6-1, 6-2. Foulkes won at the two-spot, dropping just two games. Chepuri suffered the same fate as his partner, dropping his match while capturing just three games. Opie played the closest match of the day, winning the first set 6-4, but losing the second set in a tiebreaker 10-5. Willie Turchetta ’22 dropped his match 6-2, 6-0, so Ellenborgen’s 7-6, 6-2 win in the No. 6 spot was not enough to right the ship. The Mammoths fell just one win short of overall victory.
The weekend continued as the Mammoth’s trudged northward to take on the Colby Mules. Chepuri and Ruparel lost 8-4, but the Mules’ success stopped there. Foulkes and Opie eked out a tiebreaker victory, and Ellenborgen and Elias calmly dispatched their opponents 8-2. From there, the Mammoths dominated the singles matches, capturing wins at all six spots.
After the weekend’s sojourn in Maine, the Mammoths sit at 6-4 on the season, and they are 3-1 in NESCAC play. They face their most imposing weekend slate this coming week, taking on No. 9 Middlebury on Saturday, April 9, before a matchup with No. 6 Williams on Sunday. Both matches will be played at home.
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