The Sandspur

Issue date: 4/15/05 Section: Sports

Media Credit: RC SID CLUTCH PLAYER: Rollins number one Matt Umbers had a rough day against Embry-Riddle.

Losses come few and far between for the Tars' men's tennis team. Before last weekend they had only been defeated on four occasions throughout the season. And that's not just against conference competition, but against everyone.

The Tars have had a number of winning streaks throughout the season, winning seven in row during March, and nine out of their last ten.

The Tars have a very strong team this year, with nationally ranked players from all over the world. In their number one spot is Mat Umbers, who hails from England, and is ranked 11 in the nation. Among the other players is Jeff Birse, who was the National New Zealand junior champ, and Jono Gomex who represents Trinidad in the Davis Cup. The Tars are number six in the nation, and are clearly a team to be feared.

Unfortunately, last Sunday the Tars didn't give as a good a performance as they're used to. They played the ninth ranked NAIA team from Embry Riddle. Although Embry Riddle isn't in the same conference as Rollins the tars were hoping for a win. Things started off badly though, and didn't get better. The doubles matches, usually a strong point for the Tars, were all won by Embry. Umbers and Gomez, who are ranked 7 in the nation dropped their match 8-0. Birse and his partner David Tafur fared only marginally better, losing 8-5. The last doubles match was won by Evan Specht and Tomoaki Yashuda with a score of 8-3 over Micahell Schwartz and Mike Compton.

Singles play went a little better for the Tars; they managed to win two matches. Gomez managed to win a marathon, 3-set match against Specht. After winning the first set easily, and only dropping 1 game, Gomez struggled in the second, losing 6-7. In the tie break Gomez managed to pull through and win 10-4.

The other point for the Rollins team came from Birse, who beat his 16th ranked opponent 7-5, 6-4.

At the end of the day the tars lost 7-2. Not a very satisfactory result for the team. It was only the fifth time all season that Umbers and Gomez have dropped a doubles match, of the sixteen they'veplayed. The pair have beaten the number 2 ranked team Kshitij Dwivedi and Paul Ratchford of Presbyterian College and have looked strong throughout the season.

The Tars' next match is against Eckerd College on April 17. It will be the last home match for the team before the SSC tournament. Play will begin at noon, so come out and support the Tars!

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools