SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 19, 2007) – The Springfield College men’s tennis team played competitively, but lost to Wesleyan, 7-2, late this afternoon at Springfield’s Appleton Courts in the season opener for both teams.
Wesleyan took a 2-1 lead after doubles play.
In singles, Matt O’Connell at No. 2 and Alejandro Alverado at No. 6 upped the lead to 4-1 for the Cardinals.
Springfield junior Andrew Constant (Kingston, N.Y.) fended off Pauri Pandian at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-3, to edge the match back to 4-2, Wesleyan.
But Mike Frank at No. 3, Paul Gerdes at No. 5, and Ray Chung at No. 4 finished it off for Wesleyan. Gerdes defeated Springfield senior Rahul Bala (Enfield, Conn.) in a fine come-from-behind effort at 2-6, 6-3, (10-6 super tiebreaker).
As a result, Wesleyan is now 1-0, while Springfield falls to 0-1.
The match began with doubles play.
Wesleyan 7, Springfield 2
Toby Coffin G’01, enters his third year as the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Springfield College. Coffin, who has coached at numerous high schools in the area, will look to build a program which will contend for a conference crown.
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