The Men’s tennis team came out 1-1 on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Quad City Tennis Club.
The Vikings defeated Rose-Hulman 5-4 before losing to Coe University 5-4 during a home match. At the start of the first game, Rose-Hulman took a 4-3 lead winning against Augustana in the fifth and sixth single matches.
Junior Sriram Sugumaran came back to defeat his opponents 7-6 and 6-3, winning the first match for the team.
“It became evident as the match went on that it would most likely come down to my match, and I always love a good challenge so I was determined to pull it out,” Sugumaran said.
“I have been in that situation many times so I knew how to handle the pressure and I was glad to get the win for the team. We will continue to push ourselves both on and off the court before we start up conference play. Our goals are to win the conference for the 3rd year in a row and qualify for the NCAA tournament as well.”
Sophomores Leonardo Panosso and Kyle Boudreau beat Rose-Hulman 8-6 during a doubles match.
Soon after junior Caio de Rezende and sophomore Justin Cassens followed in their teammates footsteps winning their match 8-5.
“Before every match the coach always walks around the court to make sure that everyone is prepared,” Panosso said. “Not just physically prepared, but mentality ready to play as well.”
Coming in with a record of 5-0, Coe and Augustana got wins at the same singles, but the Vikings fell short during the double matches.
The Kohawks won 8-3 against juniors De Rezende and Cassens during the doubles match. Following that, Panosso and Boudreau fell 8-4 to Coe while Alex and Sugumaran beat the Kohawks 8-4.
“I feel that the team is working on developing some of its younger players since our lineup has changed a bit since last year, so some players who didn’t necessarily get as much opportunity last year have to learn to step up now,” Cassens said. “The energy that we have together is what we try to maintain throughout every match. Our team is full of positive energy and the pregame speeches are always fun to be a part of.”
The Vikings closed with three singles wins. Panosso scored a 6-4, while De Rezende and Sugumaran both won in three sets.
The teams ended neck-and-neck but could not come back to defeat the Kohawks. Coe stayed consistent in winning the first three singles matches taking the win at the end match.
The next match will take place at the Quad City Tennis Club on Saturday, Feb. 29 against St. Ambrose University.