Piper tennis, both men’s and women’s, prevailed last weekend at Baseline Tennis Center facilities located at the University of Minnesota. The Pipers women’s tennis defeated UM-Crookston 5-4 and Bethany Lutheran 9-0, in their two meets last Saturday.

First-year women’s tennis athlete Maggie Gibson commented on the two victories.

“I’m proud of how our team really adjusted to the style of play and was able to pull out a win when we needed it most,” Gibson said. “As a team  I think we will take away the confidence in knowing that we are a team that won’t give up and we will have fun working hard.”

The men’s tennis only had one match for Saturday and beat Bethany Lutheran 9-0.

Before the match, senior Dylan Sperry said Bethany Lutheran was a team they should beat. Sperry was confident the Pipers would win because of their early season success.

“The last couple of years we’ve started out slow, but I don’t think that’s the case this year,” senior Derek Lutz said. “It’s probably as best as we expected,” Sperry said. “We’ve won the matches we were supposed to.”

Lutz said the team struggled in the past to find the right combinations of athletes to pair up for doubles. However, he said he finally feels comfortable playing doubles, and Lutz specializes in singles.

Lutz plays doubles with senior Tyler Antil. Together they’ve played long enough that they understand each other’s tendencies and can communicate just by their actions.

“That knowledge about each other and how we play is really important for us to win the big points that we need to win; we complement each other pretty well,” Lutz said. “The biggest thing is always trying to find the right combination … it’s all about the chemistry.”

The men’s will have to take on UW-Lacrosse at their next meet. After that game both the men’s and women’s team will eventually play St. Mary’s before heading off to their annual spring break trip to Orlando, Florida.

Sperry said Florida has an outdoor facility where they can see over 20 Division-III tennis teams play.

“It’s kind of cool because you know a couple of people from the other D-III teams and you get to see them,” said Sperry.

Sperry explained that in Florida he will also have an opportunity to compete against three regionally ranked athletes.

“I put a lot of time in over the offseason so I can hopefully have a chance to at least compete and maybe beat those guys; so it’ll be fun, a little test to see how that works out,” Sperry said.

Gibson said she’s excited for the team’s spring break trip and the five matches they will play once they arrive.

“It is a great time where we all get to be together, warm and play some outdoor tennis,” Gibson said. “We will be busy, but I think all the competition will really help our game and that will carry over into the second half of the season.”

This season, both squads will compete against conference teams in their final six matches. Lutz is hopeful those games will have MIAC playoff implications.

“We should be in full swing by the time we hit those last six [matches],” Lutz said. “Hopefully we’re heading in there with position to be in the playoff hunt and ready to take a spot for the first time since our freshman year.”

After a great start this weekend, the tennis squad has some positive momentum headed in the right direction for the remainder of the spring season. If the weather lightens up the Pipers will be able to play outside on campus. Their next match is on Friday, March 7 in Rochester, Minn. against UW-LaCrosse.  The next MIAC match before they head to Florida is against St. Mary’s at the Baseline Tennis center at the U of M on Thursday, March 20.