In search of their first win of the season, the Kennesaw State men’s and women’s tennis teams hit the road over the weekend — the men stayed in-state and played the top ranked NAIA team, Georgia Gwinnett College, while the women went against Tennessee-Chattanooga.
The women kicked off the weekend’s action Friday night, Jan. 27, as they faced off against the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs.
Kennesaw entered the match with a 0-1 record, coming off a 0-7 loss at Samford University last Sunday, Jan. 22, while the Mocs sat at 2-1 for the season.
The Owls’ only point of the match was posted by freshman Aspen Jarrett, winning the first set and ultimately winning the match in the second set.
Kennesaw looked poised to post another point when junior Christina Perez-Martin hit the court. She was bested in the opening set, 6-4, but battled back and won the second set 7-6. A decisive third round was forced, but Perez-Martin dropped the third set, 11-9.
The Mocs secured the overall victory by a 6-1 decision, earning their third win of the season and improving to 3-1, while the match drops the Owls to 0-2.
Fortunately, Kennesaw will have a few weeks to improve and focus on its next opponent, hosting Alabama State University on Saturday, Feb. 18.
The men’s team traveled to Lawrenceville on Saturday, Jan. 28, to take on rival Georgia Gwinnett College, which is ranked as the No. 1 NAIA competitor in the nation and have won the NAIA National Championship for the last three years.
Kennesaw posted points when senior Jake Bouchillon won his singles match in straight sets. The Owls also posted the singles win by freshman Drew Lahey in an exhibition match. The duo of sophomore Lucas de Torress Curth and senior Simon Pritchard won their doubles match by a score of 8-6.
The efforts of the men’s team, unfortunately, didn’t propel KSU to a win, losing by a score of 7-2 and falling to 0-2 on the season. This was the first match for Georgia Gwinnett, which is now 1-0 after the win.
The KSU men’s team will next compete on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Mercer University.
