This weekend, the Yale men’s tennis team (9-2, 0-0 Ivy) extended its winning streak at home to five.
The Bulldogs hosted three teams at home at the Cullman-Heymen tennis center over the weekend: Fairleigh Dickinson, Marist and Stony Brook. Yale was able to clinch all three matches, sweeping two of the three.
“I think the key is that we have a really close-knit group of guys that are all willing to do whatever it takes to get better,” Zachary Dean ’13 said. “We are able to push each other while staying close.”
After earning a No. 49 ranking in the nation due to their performance at the ECAC championship, the Elis came up against Fairleigh Dickinson (2-4, 0-1 Northeast). The doubles teams led the charge for Yale with wins at the second and third spots, 8–2 and 8–3, respectively. The No. 59 duo of Daniel Hoffman ’13 and Marc Powers ’13 did not finish their match.
Yale’s top three players took the top three spots in two sets each. John Huang ’13 came out on top 6-4, 6–1 at No. 1, while Powers finished off at No.2 6-3, 6–3. Hoffman was also successful at No. 3, with a 6–3, 6–4 win. Yale ended the morning round with a 6–1 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. The only loss for the Elis was at No. 6, when Peter Skvarka defeated Kyle Dawson ’14 in two sets.
“I think so far our fitness is a great strength,” Huang said. “We have been really working hard to get into good shape and we’re not afraid to stick it out on the court for however long is necessary to get the win. These long, tough weekends are a real test of our fitness level and we’ve been able to navigate them successfully.”
Soon after wrapping up their first round of matches, the Elis had to take the courts again on Saturday afternoon against Marist College (4-1, 0-0 MAAC) in singles. Yale was able to sweep all six singles positions to clinch the win, making sure that the doubles point the next morning would have no impact on the outcome of the match.
After Yale took the doubles point on Sunday morning against the Red Foxes, the team went on to sweep its third opponent of the weekend, Stony Brook University (0-3, 0-0 America East). This was Yale’s fifth sweep of the season. Martin Svenning ’16 and Dean were able to clinch the doubles point with an 8–3 win at No. 3
“It was a tough weekend because we were playing three matches in two days,” Hoffman said. “We wanted to continue to play well and take care of these teams that were relatively weaker.”
Over spring break, the Bulldogs will travel to Wilmington, N.C. to play three teams: Illinois St., UNC and Old Dominion.