Gage Nutter
Staff Writer
@Gage32097
It was a week for the history books as well as week of disappointment for the men’s tennis team.
The squad picked up their fifth straight win on April 6, against Emerson with a score of 9-0, which gave them the longest winning streak in program history. This broke the 1999 team’s record, when that rattled off six-consecutive wins.
However, all good things must come to an end. The team then dropped their next match on April 9 against MIT 9-0, putting an end to their historic streak.
Against Emerson, Alex Romaine and Court Honda earned an 8-4 victory at the top doubles spot, and Nate Weissman and Tanner DeVarennes cruised to an 8-0 at No. 3. Kyle Beynor and Cameron Grant were victorious by a 9-8 decision at No. 2 doubles.
In singles play, the Pride won all six matches in straight sets with both DeVarennes and Romaine posting 6-2, 6-0 wins at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Honda delivered a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 3, while Beynor coasted at No. 4, 6-2, 6-2.
Grant continued his strong play at the No. 5 spot for the Pride with a 6-3, 6-0 victory, and Zack Keene registered a 6-3, 6-1 triumph at No. 6.
Against MIT, the Pride opened the day falling in No. 1 singles, as Tanner DeVarennes fell to Alex Cauneac, 6-1, 6-2, before Tyler Barr bested Alex Romaine, 6-0, 7-5 at No. 2 singles. The Pride would fall at No. 3 singles, as Court Honda lost to Sean Ko, 6-0, 6-1 and at No. 4 singles, where Dennis Garcia beat Kyle Beynor, 6-0, 6-0. Finishing up singles, Cameron Grant and Zack Keene both fell to give MIT a 6-0 lead in the match.
The Pride suffered three-straight losses in doubles as well, as DeVarennes and Justin Danielewicz fell at No. 1, 8-3, Romaine and Honda fell for the first time this season, 9-8, and Beynor and Grant fell, 8-2.
It wasn’t the outcome the team was looking for, but there are always lessons to be learned in a loss like this.
“During the match there was a lot of things we left on the table,” said DeVarennes. “We need to use this match to learn and grow for when we play teams that are more skilled than us in the future.”
With the loss to MIT, the Pride is now 6-4 overall, and 1-1 in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference.