GOSHEN, Ind. — The Goshen College men's and women's tennis teams each opened their seasons with losses to Grace College on Tuesday afternoon at Goshen.
Goshen's Juan Miguel Ciudad posted a 6-2, 6-3 win at no. 4 singles in his collegiate debut, knocking off Grace's Adam Yoder, but the Lancers used a sweep of the three doubles spots to post a 6-3 win. The visitors claimed a 9-0 win in the women's match.
Sophomore Eric Zuercher posted Goshen's biggest win of the evening with a 6-0, 6-1 win at no. 2 singles in a defeat of Uros Pajic.
Ciudad and Eric Cender formed a no. 3 doubles team that played to a 7-7 tie through 14 games, with the first side to eight games with a two-game margin claiming the team point. Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs, it was Grace that posted the break in Goshen's final service game and won the match 9-7.
"The positive take away from doubles is that we played two close matches and I don't think we've scratched the surface on how good we can be at those positions," said Goshen coach Evan Atkinson. "With four new starters in our lineup, we played too tentatively and our actions did not match the confidence we had displayed in practice throughout the week. I saw some good points from our guys but the consistency wasn't where it needed to be."
In addition to Ciudad and Zuercher, Kartikeya Sharma pulled out a win in a tense 7-5, 6-4 match at no. 3 singles. But following the 3-0 doubles hole, Goshen needed to win five of the six singles spots to post the team win. At no. 1 singles, all-conference player Danila Kourkolin cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Goshen's Aritha Weerasinghe to make the team match 4-1 in Grace's favor.
"We knew we'd have to have good singles play (after the doubles deficit)," Atkinson continued. "Danila has been a strong player in conference for years, so that was a tough matchup for Aritha in his first start at no. 1. I still thought we had a chance to sweep the rest of the singles for a 5-4 win. Each match was a battle, and sadly we fell a little short, but I was happy with most of the effort displayed today. I think with more experience our guys will be up for any challenge. I'm encouraged by what I saw and know we will get better."
While Eric Cender and Evan Beck claimed at least three games in all four of their sets, they both dropped their singles openers in straight sets as Grace won 6-3.
For the Maple Leaf women, Noemi Salvador won her first set at no. 1 singles, the only match for either the men or women to go the three-set distance. But Salvador could not continue the momentum for the full match, dropping her decision 4-6, 6-0, (10-5).
"Mimi played and won a big first set against one of the stronger players in our conference," Atkinson said. "She showed if we can play up to our potential we can win sets, which we need to repeat over and over to win matches in our very competitive league. Everyone else started a bit slowly but recognized some strategies to compete for each point, even if the matches went in Grace's favor this time."
The Lancers swept the remaining singles matches in straight sets and took each doubles match by identical 8-1 scores.
Both Goshen teams drop to 0-1 this season, while each Grace team is 1-0. Goshen will host Bethel at 10 a.m. Saturday for both men and women, followed by a men's match with Judson University at 3 p.m.
Men: Grace 6, Goshen 3
1S. Danila Kourkolin (Gr) def. Aritha Weerasinghe 6-1, 6-0
2S. Eric Zuercher (Go) def. Uros Pajic 6-0, 6-1
3S. Kartikeya Sharma (Go) def. Gabe Vervynckt 7-5, 6-4
4S. Juan Miguel Ciudad (Go) def. Adam Yoder 6-2, 6-3
5S. Arturo Fonseca (Gr) def. Eric Cender 6-3, 6-3
6S. Lucas Fonseca (Gr) def. Evan Beck 6-4, 6-3
1D. Kourkolin/Caleb Yoder (Gr) def. Zuercher/Sharma 8-2
2D. Pajic/Vervynckt (Gr) def. Weerasinghe/Luke Rush 9-7
3D. A. Yoder/A. Fonseca (Gr) def. Ciudad/Cender 9-7
Women: Grace 9, Goshen 0
1S. Natalia Kurkova (Gr) def. Noemi Salvador 4-6, 6-0, (10-5)
2S. Carrie Copeland (Gr) def. Joelle Friesen 6-1, 6-0
3S. Jenna Jackson (Gr) def. Kendra Lozano 6-0, 6-2
4S. Molly Fitzpatrick (Gr) def. Chloe Woodward 6-1, 6-3
5S. Grace by default
6S. Grace by default
1D. Kurkova/Jackson (Gr) def. Salvador/Friesen 8-1
2D. Copeland/Fitzpatrick (Gr) def. Woodward/Lozano 8-1
3D. Grace by default
