Men's Tennis: Close loss to Hokies doesn't shake Bulldogs' confidence

Jonathan Beardsley, DC '99, continued to roll at the No. 1 spot, posting a win over Aaron Marchetti '00, the No. 13 player in the nation. Greg Royce, SY '01, won at the fourth singles spot. But Yale still fell short, losing the other four singles matches. "Things just didn't go our way," Scott Mayo, BR '00, said. "They were tight matches." He thinks the problem is simple: "It's a question of getting everyone on the team to play well at one time."

Despite the loss, the Bulldogs did not leave the match completely shaken. They won the doubles point, which had been problematic for the Elis against strong teams, and now Yale looks forward to the Ivy season, which begins with matches against Princeton on Fri., Apr. 9, and Penn on Sat., Apr. 10. "We'll rebound," Mayo said. "If we sweep [Princeton and Penn], nobody's going to remember Virginia Tech." The doubles play will be especially important against Princeton, one of the league's best teams. "Princeton has very strong doubles. Winning the doubles point gives us confidence," captain Reid Lerner, BR '99, said of last weekend's match.

While beating the Hokies would have been nice, the team realizes that the real prize is the Ivy title. "[Losing] only made us more determined to work hard this week," Lerner said. Mayo agreed: "We're a confident team. We know our season starts this weekend."

--Joey Ax

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