Men's Tennis Returns to Courts with 3 Duals at Kearney
(Kearney, NE) – The men’s tennis team played their first weekend of matches for their spring season this weekend. With many underclassmen, they played some excellent tennis against the reigning KCAC Champion in their 6-1 loss to McPherson, then lost 7-0 to NCAA Division II Nebraska-Kearney. Hastings concluded their busy weekend of matches with a 6-1 loss to the University of Saint Mary.
(Kearney, NE) – The men's tennis team played their first weekend of matches for their spring season this weekend. With many underclassmen, they played some excellent tennis against the reigning KCAC Champion in their 6-1 loss to McPherson, then lost 7-0 to NCAA Division II Nebraska-Kearney. Hastings concluded their busy weekend of matches with a 6-1 loss to the University of Saint Mary.
McPherson won all three doubles matches to win the doubles point. Freshman Ben Hafer won the first set, 6-4, and while he was not able to win in straights, he persevered and took the third set tiebreaker over Ayden Johnson, 10-6, to get Hastings' lone point.
Freshman Joel Carter jumped out to a one-set lead at #1 singles in his first collegiate singles match with an impressive 6-3 opening set win. It would come down to a third set super tiebreaker that the Bulldogs managed to win, 10-7. Senior Nick Smeltzer lost a tight first set at #2 singles, 6-4, and dropped the second, 6-2.
Freshman Ethan Zimmerman also had a competitive match, as he got down 5-0 in the first set but found some success late in that set that carried forward to a 3-2 lead in the second set to earn confidence despite the 6-3, 6-4 loss. McPherson lost a combined three games in the #3 and #4 singles matches to take the match 6-1.
Against Nebraska-Kearney, all three doubles teams each won a game in the single six-game set losses. Carter had the most success in singles, getting four games in the second set against Adrian Constantin in the 6-1, 6-4 loss. The Lopers lost just three combined games in the five other singles matches to win, 7-0.
In the match against the University of Saint Mary, the Spires executed well to win all three doubles matches by losing four combined points to take the doubles point. Junior Ethan Mins and freshman Alex Hafer at two doubles had the most success in the doubles matches for Hastings, taking two games. Saint Mary lost just one game in the three singles match, then lost just four games in both the #1 singles and #6 singles matches.
Smeltzer got the lone victory of the match for the Broncos at #2 singles. He won the first set by overpowering Nils Dueppe, 6-3, then managed to grind out a tighter second set by a score of 6-4 to put Hastings on the board.
Mins and Ben Hafer also played competitive matches four and five singles, respectively. Both players were tied at five-all in the first set of their matches, but ultimately lost the set, 7-5. Mins had lots of long rallies in the second set as well, but fell, 6-1. Hafer nearly forced his match into a third set, but the Spires closed the set strong to win, 6-4, giving them the 6-1 match win.
Up next, Hastings will play Metropolitan State in Lexington, NE on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 9am inside the new Lexington Racquet Complex.
