The Geneseo women’s tennis team cruised to an easy 9-0 victory over the SUNY Oswego Dragons on Friday Sept. 6 in the Knights’ first home match of the season.
Senior Katie Talbot and freshman Mare Santos won first doubles once again and were never challenged in the 8-0 victory.
At second doubles, senior Sarah Shields and sophomore Amanda Rosati struggled to locate some of their shots early on, but they turned it on in the last five games to win, 8-2.
Sophomores Dexuan and Minxuan Yuan once again partnered at third doubles and took home a convincing 8-0 victory for the Knights.
The Knights were equally as dominant in singles play. Santos captured first singles 6-2, 6-3 in a match in which she tinkered with her serve, according to head coach Jim Chen.
Dexuan Yuan took second singles for Geneseo with an easy 6-1, 6-0 victory.
After these two matches the Knights did not lose a single game, as Talbot, Rosati, Shields and sophomore Zakiyyah Abdus-Salaam won their matches at third, fourth, fifth and sixth singles, respectively – each 6-0, 6-0.
The Knights had a quick turnaround after their match as they traveled to William and Smith College to compete in the Mary Hosking Invitational for the second year in a row.
There is no team scoring at the invitational and the results do not count for SUNYAC play. Nonetheless, Chen uses the event – which is rife with talented private skills – as a chance to challenge his players and probe their strengths and weaknesses.
“When we play Oswego … we are so dominant and we can’t tell what our weakness and strength are... But having played [the] tournament, it gives us a significant indication as to what we need to practice,” Chen said.
According to Chen, the Knights need to work on their, “volleying at the net, serve consistency and shot tolerance levels.”
While none of the Geneseo players made it past the semifinals in her respective flight, Chen stated “The second day we did very well … Overall, I’m very pleased with the caliber of play.”
After a day off on Monday Sept. 10, the Knights took on the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles and claimed another 9-0 home victory.
Once again the Knights were untouchable in doubles play. Santos and Talbot took first doubles 8-1, as did Rosati and Shields at second doubles, while the Yuan twins coasted to an 8-0 win in third doubles. The doubles teams benefitted from superior serving and play at the net, areas emphasized by Chen before the match.
The Knights impressed in singles play as well and the Knights dropped only seven combined games. Santos won 6-1, 6-0 in first singles and Yuan took second singles 6-2, 6-1. Talbot secured third singles in a 6-1, 6-1 showing, while Rosati and Shields both won 6-0, 6-0, at fourth and fifth singles. Abdus-Salaam won sixth singles, 6-0, 6-1.
The Knights look to continue their winning ways when they travel to SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Oneonta on September 14 and 15.