After capturing wins over Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opponent West Chester, the Bloomsburg University men’s and women’s tennis teams look to build off that momentum as each club is back in action within the next week.
Weather permitting, the women will travel to Shippensburg today to take on the Raiders in PSAC play at 4:00 p.m., while the men’s team will stay home to face the Kutztown Golden Bears on Tuesday, Apr. 10.
Entering today’s match against Shippensburg, the women’s team is one match under .500 with a record of 4-5. The Huskies are currently on a three-match win streak and hold a 2-0 record in conference play. In addition to defeating West Chester 5-4, the women’s team also took down PSAC opponent Millersville by a score 8-1 and shutout Lycoming College 9-0.
During the streak, the women’s team was able to sweep every team they faced except West Chester in doubles play. The duo of sophomores Cassidy Calimer and Vitoria Nery picked up doubles wins in each of their last three outings in dominant fashion, with their largest margin of victory coming in their meet against Lycoming. In that match, Calimer and Nery defeated Hannah Summerson and Devinity Apollon by a score of 8-1.
The doubles group of senior Catherine Garrity and freshman Giovanna Bonito also had success during the team’s winning streak as they were able to come out victorious in two of their three matches. The duo defeated Kaitlin Hallabuk and Julia Nagle of Lycoming by a definitive final of 8-2 and shut out their opponents from Millersville by a score of 8-0.
In addition to having strong showings in doubles contests, the members of the women’s team had individual success as well in singles play.
Just as she was part of a doubles team that was victorious in its last three appearances, Nery also dominated singles play, winning all three of her individual matches. Two of her wins – against Apollon and Megan Rovenolt of Millersville – came in just two sets as she defeated both by scores of 6-3 and 6-0.
Sophomore Chole Berridge swept her competition in singles play over the last three matches, defeating each of her opponents in just two sets.
The Huskies enter a favorable matchup with the Raiders of Shippensburg, as they are currently 1-11 on the season and have yet to pick up an in-conference victory. Their only win of the season as a team so far came against Holy Family in which they won 7-2.
The men’s team brings a 4-6 record into their matchup with Kutztown on Tuesday, but like the women’s team, is currently riding a two-match winning streak. The BU men will look to improve on their PSAC record of 2-2 and remain perfect at home as they are 2-0 at Burt Reese Tennis Center this season.
During the two-match streak, the BU men picked up conference wins over West Chester and Kutztown, defeating each by a final of 7-2.
In the meeting with Millersville, the Huskies were able to win two out of three doubles matches, with the duos of Lucas Pedrotti and Nagid Walle, and Guillermo Carranza and Robin Luetzig, picking up wins.
In singles, the Huskies were able to win all but one match against the Marauders, as BU’s Bernando Abreu fell in a close one to Millersville’s Ben Fellman in two sets with scores of 7-5 and 6-2. Pedrotti, Walle, Carranza, Luetzig, and Benjamin Tauber all earned wins against their Millersville opponents. Luetzig’s win was the most dominant out of all the singles matches, as he defeated Erich Nagel of Millersville in straight sets.
The Huskies carried that momentum into their match up against West Chester in which they won all but two contests against the Golden Rams.
The men’s team will face a Kutztown team who was ranked seventh in the first NCAA Atlantic Region poll of the season for the first time in three years. As of this publishing, the Golden Bears boast a 5-3 record and just picked up their first conference win in an 8-1 victory over Millersville.
Kutztown’s Nolan Perguini will be a name to watch for, as he was just awarded PSAC Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week for his singles and doubles wins against Millersvile. Perguini currently holds a 6-2 singles record, a 4-4 doubles record, and has won two-out-of-three conference matches.
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