Men's Tennis | 3/11/2019 10:58:00 PM
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 <em>Photos by Micah Gilbert</em><br />
<br />
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College tennis teams hosted Barton County Community College in an exhibition match on Monday at the McPherson High School tennis courts. For the Bulldog women it was their second match of the season, though it was their first in nearly a month, but for the men, it was their first competition of the spring.<br />
<br />
The spring season for college tennis is all about two teams squaring off against each other in a dual, consisting of nine matches, three doubles and six singles. The first team to win five total matches wins the dual. Doubles matches consist of one set to eight games, while singles matches are best two of three six game sets.<br />
<br />
On Monday, both Bulldog teams trailed the Cougars 2-1 after the doubles portion of the dual. The Bulldog women only have five team members so they are only able to field two doubles team forcing them to forfeit the #3 line. On the women's side, the Bulldogs and Cougars split the two matches that were played. The #1 team of
Brittany Zipf (Jr. Rockhampton, Australia) and
Erica Paradise (Fr. Bakersfield, Calif.) won their match 8-5, but #2 team of
Besa Bwalya (Sr. Hoisington, Kan.) and
Zoe Bouwmeester (Jr. Zutphen, Netherlands) dropped and 3-8 decision.<br />
<br />
For the Bulldog men, their lone doubles win also came on the #1 line.
Julien Bodin (So. Cartagena, Spain) and teammate
Jacob Turley (So. Milton Keynes, England) dominated their match, winning 8-1. The #2 team of
Juan Alejandro Jimenez (Sr. Pereira, Colombia) and Nicholas Wahl (So, Koenigstein, Germany) and the #3 team of
Rick Sakamoto (Fr. Melbourne, Australia) and
Jakob Komel (Fr. Ljbuljana, Slovenia) both fell to the Cougars by a score of 3-8.<br />
<br />
In singles, the Bulldog women won three of the five matches played. The wins came from Zipf at #1 6-4, 5-7, 10-8, Bouwmeester at #4 6-3, 6-2, and
Sydney Hicks (Fr. Thornton, Colo.) at #5 6-1, 6-3. For Hicks, it was her first collegiate win. Unfortunately Paradise dropped her match at #2 0-6, 1-6, Bwalya was defeated at #3 2 and 1, and they were forced to forfeit the match at # six which meant they ultimately lost the dual 5-4.<br />
<br />
On the men's side, the Bulldogs were unable to find their form against the Cougars in singles. They won just one of the six matches played, that coming from Bodin at #3, 6-3, 2-6, 10-2. All of the other matches were very competitive, three of the five decided in a third set tie-breaker. Jimenez fell at #1, 1 and 4. At #2, Turley lost in three sets, 2-6, 7-5, 7-10. Wahl's match also went the three sets, with the Bulldogs' #4 falling 4-6, 6-2, 7-10. In the match at #5, Sakamoto lost two close sets 3-6, 4-6, while at #6,
James Lee (So. Cambridge, England) dropped the first set 4-6, came back to blank his opponent in the second set 6-0, but lost the third set tie-breaker 8-10.<br />
<br />
Bulldog first year head coach,
Rafael Bulnes, commented on the Bulldogs' performance saying &quot;The guys played very tough today and we lost some close matches. Our number 1 doubles is playing at a very high level. Barton is a good team and I think we played well for our first match. The ladies played good tennis and just fell short. The team is getting better every match, and It was really cool to see Sydney get her first college win. Now it's time to get back to work.&quot;<br />
 <br />
Next up for the Bulldogs is a Spring Break trip next week to Georgia. The Bulldogs will play three matches in the middle of next week against Middle Georgia State, Georgia Gwinnett College, and Point University.<br />
Â
