The men’s tennis team traveled to Virginia last weekend and moved to 4–0 for the season, the team’s best start since 2001. The Elis won big against both William and Mary and Old Dominion 5–2.
In their first away match of the season Saturday, the Elis faced the Tribe at McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va. Yale demonstrated strength especially in the doubles, in addition to adding three straight wins in the singles.
“I thought today’s match was great,” Daniel Hoffman ’13 said. “We came out strong in the doubles, which really set the tone for the rest of the match. I feel like the team has done well so far this season, but we obviously have a lot left to accomplish.”
Taking the first three matches, Marc Powers ’13, John Huang ’13 and Hoffman started out strong in the singles, and Zach Krumholz ’15 rounded out the 4–2 singles victory.
Every win against William and Mary came from a non-senior member of the team. Hoffman said the seniors helped younger players such as Krumholz prepare for match.
“[Krumholz] was very nervous before starting because it was his first match on the road. He approached many members on the team before the match to get advice on how to deal with this type of situation. I think our seniors did a terrific job of getting him and the entire team ready to play,” said Hoffman.
The Elis took two out of three doubles matches. No. 1 Hoffman and Powers and No. 3 Huang and Patrick Chase ’14 went on a rampage against the Tribe with scores of 8–5 and 8–6 respectively.
On Sunday, the Elis faced the Monarchs at Norfolk and again came home with a 5–2 victory. In doubles, No. 1 Powers and Hoffman won 8–4, and No.2 Erik Blumenkranz ’12 and Huang won 8–5. In the singles, Powers, Huang, Blumenkranz and Krumholz had a clean sweep and gave the Elis four wins.
“They were fierce, tough competitors, but I knew that if we played well and competed hard we would have a positive result,” Krumholz said. “Since this was the first spring road trip, we were really excited to continue our winning record away as well as at home with a 4–0 start. We have to keep improving by getting stronger and playing better in order to continue our successful record.”
Krumholz added that Huang, who went 4–0 for the weekend and led his doubles teams to wins in two tight matches, was “the man of this trip.”
Head coach Alex Dorato did not respond to a request for comment, but Hoffman told the News that Dorato was very satisfied with the results but is focusing on preparing the team for upcoming matches instead of celebrating the victories.
“It is always challenging when you aren’t playing at home. It was great to beat a quality team like [William and Mary] at their home courts,” Hoffman said.
The Elis will travel to Hanover on Feb. 17 for the ECAC Indoor Team Championship.