Men’s tennis lost 9-0 to UW-LaCrosse last weekend as the women’s tennis rested. Both teams are eyeing their next conference match against St. Mary’s, a win that would help both surpass their conference mark from a year ago.

“We’ve been playing well in practice [but] you [sic] got to carry that into matches,” senior Tyler Antil said.

Last Friday, the men’s tennis traveled to Rochester to face UW-LaCrosse. Antil said before the meet he thought it would be an even match.

“Neither team is going to roll each other,” Antil said. “If we both come to play, whichever team plays their best will take it.”

As a result, UW-LaCrosse was able to win in straight sets and they came out with a 9-0 win over the Pipers.

“UW-LaCrosse is a very solid team all the way down the line,” sophomore Sam Peterson said.

Peterson explained he and his doubles partner, senior Dylan Sperry, played well in spurts.

“We played a good game of double[s] together, but we just couldn’t find an edge to pull things in our favor,” Peterson said.

Peterson said the singles matches were closer than what the scorecard indicated.

“A lot of singles matches were closer. Tyler Antil had a very close first set, and Dylan’s second set was competitive,” he said.

Antil forecasted the Pipers would need a strong start to carry out a victory.

“Taking two of three doubles […] starting off hot and early is going to be key. If we start down it’s going to be hard to come back from that,” Antil said.

However, Antil revealed the results of the meet against UW-LaCrosse wasn’t as important as the match that followed.

“The big picture [is that] this match is about getting ready for St. Mary’s, a MIAC match,” he said. “This week matters but [in] two weeks it will matter even more.”

Antil elaborated that last year he felt UW-LaCrosse was slightly better than St. Mary’s and in both matches they lost 3-6 as they struggled to win tiebreakers. Antil saw their meet on Friday as a test to see where they were at.

The meet also marked the return of a few injured athletes that included first-year Andrew Pleger and sophomore Ben Ekstein.

Ekstein dislocated his shoulder last month after attempting to hit an overhead during practice. After enduring physical therapy and having to ice his shoulder on a daily basis, he was finally active on the hard court for the first time this season.

“It felt very great to be back and [I] thought I was playing very well,” Ekstein said. “Now that my shoulder is stronger than before, I feel that I’m all set to compete against St. Mary’s.”

Antil is confident that their new lineup at St. Mary’s will add a new dynamic to the team. Antil also expects first-year Cody Jahrig, who has been recovering from an injury, to make his return against St. Mary’s.

Peterson is optimistic their practice routines with doubles will pay off.

“Our match against [St. Mary’s] will be very competitive and hopefully we will pull out the W,” Peterson said. “We have been drilling doubles a lot lately, so hopefully we have a strong start with the three doubles matches.”

As for the women’s tennis, the team had last weekend to rest but will resume on Saturday March 15 against St. Mary’s who is a conference competitior. The Pipers will be coming off of a two game winning streak, including their first ever team doubles win in school history, which they recorded March 1 against Bethany Lutheran. The Pipers are 1-3 in the MIAC, and if they come up with a win against St. Mary’s it would surpass the team’s mark in conference from a year ago.

Sophomore Cassie Rammage said the competitive nature of the team has significantly increased in comparison to teams from years prior.

“I think our success this year has shown that we are in it to fight and do our best as a team,” Rammage said. “We like to prove to ourselves and others that we are not going to give up easily. This year the girls have really given all they have.”

Rammage said the coaching staff has emphasized an aggressive style of play, which has improved the team’s play in doubles.  This will definitely give the squad a much better chance to compete in the conference, and also give them a chance to gain more points overall in matches.  She mentioned that the team’s improvement this year may be enough to defeat St. Mary’s, which the Pipers must do in order to move up in the conference.

“All of the girls want another conference win this year,” Rammage said. “We have been talking about beating this team for a few years now, and each year we seem closer to achieving that goal. This year I definitely think we have what it takes to beat them.”

The women take on St. Mary’s this Saturday March 15 at Baseline Tennis center at 10:30 a.m. and the men take them on later in the day at 4:30 p.m.