Two weekends ago, at the Northeast Intercollegiate tournament, the men's tennis team recorded impressive results in singles play but came up short on the doubles end all too frequently. But after a strong second-place finish at the Cincinnati Collegiate Invitational this weekend, the Bears' doubles forces matched their singles play and proved that they are perfectly capable of beating anyone as well.
"We played really well this weekend," said Michael Scherer '08. "Placing second in the tournament was pretty good for us."
The tournament was comprised of a series of dual matches, with each match affecting the players' individual national rankings. Brown was one of five teams at the Invitational, along with Wake Forest University, the University of Louisville, Indiana University and Michigan State University.
At the start of the tournament, the Bears faced a series of daunting singles matches against Wake Forest, which placed first in the Invite.
Dan Hanegby '07, playing first singles, notched the team's only win of the six singles matches counted in the dual match. Although Hanegby is currently ranked No. 60 in the nation, he went into his match with No. 33 Todd Paul as an underdog. With the odds stacked against him, the junior transfer was able to pick up a tough, three-set victory, winning 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2).
In doubles competition, the Bears managed to win just one out of their three matches against the Demon Deacons. Hanegby paired with Saurabh Kohli '08 to defeat Cory Parr and Marius Adamski, who had beaten Kohli earlier in singles, for Brown's lone doubles victory of the day, 8-4.
For the remainder of the weekend, the Bears experienced much more success, starting with their matches against Indiana. In singles, Eric Thomas '07 posted a 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 win over Dara McLoughlin, while Scherer defeated Michael McCarthy 2-6, 7-6 (6), 10-3 and Sam Garland '09 won his match against Peter Antons 6-4, 6-2.
"Our guys got through some tough matches," Scherer said.
In doubles play, Brown's matches were far from tough, with all three of the matches against the Hoosiers going to the Bears. At first doubles, Hanegby and co-captain Phil Charm '06 overpowered Dmytro Ishtuganov and Neil Kenner 8-6. The second doubles team of Kohli and Thomas defeated McCarthy and McLoughlin, 8-5. At third doubles, Garland and Scott Blumenkranz '08 soundly defeated Antons and David Bubenicek 8-2.
Against Michigan State, the results were even better. Brown took four out of the six singles matches from the Spartans. Thomas triumphed in a close 7-6 (4), 6-4 match against Adam Monich at second singles, and Kohli trounced Michael Flowers 6-0, 6-1 at third singles. Charm won at fourth singles, 6-4, 6-2 against Mike Brown, and Lee followed suit at fifth singles, beating Scott Rasmussen 7-5, 6-4.
The trouncing of Michigan State didn't end there. Hanegby and Kohli won their doubles match 9-7 against Flowers and Alex Forger, and Lee and Garland completely annihilated Rasmussen and John Allare 8-0.
But the destruction of Michigan State was not even the Bears' best showing of the tournament. That came against Louisville, where Bruno won five of six singles matches and two of three doubles matches. In singles, Hanegby, Thomas, Kohli, Charm and Garland all won in resounding straight-set fashion. In doubles, Kohli and Thomas overpowered Robert Rotaru and Tony Teufel 8-l, while Garland and Blumenkranz won their match 8-6 against Stefan Naughton and Jhonny Berrido.
Overall, the Bears were proud of their performance during the three days of competition, and in their ongoing efforts to continue improving as a team, they think they are on the right track.
"I thought we did all right," Charm said. "It wasn't absolutely perfect, but it was an improvement over last weekend, and that's what we're looking for."
Assistant Coach Jamie Gresh was pleased with the team's progress as well. "We made a lot of good improvements," he said, "especially in doubles."
This weekend Brown travels to the National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., site of the U.S. Open, to compete in the ECAC Championships. The ECAC Championships are by far the biggest tournament on Brown's fall schedule. The winner of the tournament moves on to the ITA Regional Championships in Hanover, N.H., which begin on Oct. 21.
"(This) weekend is our big weekend," Charm said. "We need to do well there."
