Throughout the lineup, Colorado College played well for the third match in a row. Unfortunately, the Tigers keep running into some of the best teams in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
On Saturday, CC dropped a 5-0 decision to Sewanee, which is ranked No. 15 in the Atlantic South Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
“We've had a pretty tough draw so far this year, playing the No. 1 seed (Trinity) yesterday and then the No. 4 seed (Sewanee) today,” head coach Naren Clark said. “Seeing how close we are to being one of the better teams in our conference has been inspiring for many of the guys on the team.”
Colorado College faced a huge deficit after dropping all three doubles matches, but Nate Burt and Lionel Zen-Ruffinen overcame a slow start to close to within one break before falling 8-6 at No. 1 doubles.
“Nate and Leo fought hard to make a comeback at No. 1, but ran out of time,” Clark said.
Evan Jonker had a chance to close out the first set of his match at No. 2 singles, but Jay Hill won the final three games and carried the momentum through the second set to earn a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
Zach White put up a valiant fight at No. 6 singles, but came out on the wrong side of a 6-4, 6-4 decision that gave Sewanee its fifth and final point.
“Evan is playing his best tennis of the season, but he fell short in the first set,” Clark said. “Zach played a very close match at No. 6, displaying some of the best tennis he's played all year.
“Overall we are playing some of the best tennis of the year, fighting harder and competing on a higher level then at any other point in the season. Unfortunately, our lack of experience and practice in the fall is holding us back.”
Colorado College faces Centre College in the seventh-place match on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Results
Doubles
1. Daniel Arnold/Anthony Lioce (UOS) def. Nate Burt/Lionel Zen-Ruffinen (CC) 8-6
2. Jay Hill/Levi Joy (UOS) def. Sam Barnard/Evan Jonker (CC) 8-3
3. Will Holloway/Mitchell Henry (UOS) def. Zach White/Will Lindsay (CC) 8-3
Singles
1 DNF
2 Jay Hill (UOS) def. Evan Jonker (CC) 7-5, 6-1
3 DNF
4 DNF
5 DNF
6 Levi Joy (UOS) def. Zach White (CC) 6-4, 6-4
