With a sunny but windy Spring day on Sunday, April 7, RWU men’s and women’s tennis hosted Colby Sawyer for a non-conference match of three doubles games and six singles games.
The first doubles match set the tone for the rest of the day. Sophomore Camden Poitras and junior Konnor Collins were the first to face the Chargers.
“Just right off the bat we’ve been a really strong doubles team, we just have that chemistry on the court and we’re good at putting balls away and making quick points,” Collins said.
Collins and Poitras controlled the game and only let up four points to Colby-Sawyer, with a final score of 8-4.
“It was a really good match, it was probably the best match me and Cam have played this season,” Collins said. “Colby-Sawyer is a pretty good team so it was a good win today.”
The strong victory started a good momentum for the Hawks for the rest of the day. RWU continued to dominate the next two doubles matches.
“We started out strong, it’s always nice getting that 3-0 lead, it’s been a good match,” Head Coach, Barry Gorman said.
The boosted morale was needed to carry through a day of strong winds. Both teams battled against wind speeds reaching a max of 25 miles per hour on Sunday. However, the weather was nothing new for the Hawks. In fact, Collins considered the wind to be a “home court advantage.”
“We’re used to that, this is our home courts, we play with the bay-wind everyday,” Collins said. “It makes it hard but it’s more of an advantage for us if anything.”
The men pushed through winds and were successful in winning all but one singles matches. The day ended with a final matches score of 8-1. With a strong start to the Commonwealth Coast Conference season of 2-0, the players and coach have high hopes for the rest of the season.
“Last year we made the finals of the CCC and obviously we’re going for the championship but I think this year, in our position right now, I really think we could go undefeated,” Collins said.
Coach Gorman is also confident in his players saying, “This season, we have a good returning group so its been nice they’ve been experienced and they know what to expect.”
The Hawks have kept up their streak with another win on Tuesday April, 9, against Curry College. The men’s next match will be Thursday April 11, at Gordon College.
