The Waynesburg University men’s tennis team won their first match of the spring portion of the season this past Wednesday, March 19, as they took on Pitt-Greensburg, improving their record to 1-3 as they prepare for their stretch of conference matches in the coming days and weeks. 

Of those who aided the Yellow Jackets in their victory, all competitors aside from the third singles slot won their individual matches, with Ethan Clawson taking the first singles slot with scores of 6-3, 4-6, 10-, while aiding in the victory during first doubles alongside Sam Norris, winning their match 6-3. Norris also added a victory in second singles with scores of 6-1, 6-3.

Head coach Randy Pettit spoke to how well his team played this match and the energy that seemingly propelled them to such a noteworthy performance.

“The guys felt really good.  It was nice to compete and get a good win.  The first couple points in doubles they seemed a little flat, but turned it on and didn’t look back,” Pettit said.

As for the rest of the team,the other two pairings of Andres Rojas and Josh DeFries as well as Tyler Gordan and Thomas Torcaso captured victories in their second and third doubles matchups respectively.

Gordon also spoke to the energy he felt amongst his team, and how that will encourage him to continue these types of results throughout the season.

“It feels exhilarating, it has definitely motivated me to put in the work and refine every aspect,” Gordon said, while adding some of the things he saw as going well alongside Torcaso, as well as what he hopes they can improve on. “We had good energy and communication in our doubles match, so we will continue to add in to that strength. We will definitely work on our net game more, and our serving.”

In their respective singles matches, Rojas, Gordon and Torcaso won their bouts by scores of 6-4, and 6-0, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 respectively. 

Waynesburg will be back on their home court on Wednesday, March 26, against Thiel, again beginning their slate of seven conference matches out of their eight remaining regular season competitions. Pettit did make note that at this point of the season where weather is unpredictable and there are a lot of competitions in a short amount of time that the team will have to be able to adjust with whatever comes. 

“The biggest thing with our season is being able to get the work in when we can and taking advantage of the nice weather days,” Pettit said. “Our season is a sprint, and there are times where it seems like we are only playing matches and not practicing.  The guys typically adjust well on the fly when needed.”