Colby Men’s and Women’s Tennis comes out on top during busy week

Colby Men’s Tennis faced both Bowdoin and Bates this week on April 14 and April 16, respectively. Traveling to Brunswick for the first matchup, the Mules looked to capitalize on winning momentum from dominant victories over Trinity College and Connecticut College the week prior. The Polar Bears, however, proved to be tougher opponents, as indicated by their No. 9 rank compared to Colby’s No. 24 position. 

Falling short early on in the doubles matches, first string Joey Barrett ’24 and Jake Cohen ’25 lost 8-3 to Bowdoin’s first doubles. The young pair were outclassed by older opponents, but they were not alone in their defeat. 

In second doubles, Captain Max Schuermann ’22 and Sam Henry ’24 fell to Bowdoin’s second doubles in a tight 8-6 scoreline. To round out the doubles matches and provide a glimmer of hope for a Colby come-back, Jan Wenger ’23 and James Bogdanovic ’25 beat Bowdoin third doubles 8-6.

Colby Men’s Tennis was able to split singles matches with Bowdoin, but could not overcome the one game score difference from the doubles matchups. Wenger took on Bowdoin’s first singles opponent and failed to carry the momentum of his doubles victory, falling 6-3 in both sets of the match.

Second and third singles provided Colby with a pair of wins that brought the win count to an even 3-3 scoreline. Barrett and Cohen provided those two victories, providing a spark of fresh life to compete against the higher-ranked Bowdoin team. In fourth singles, Schuermann was able to secure a dominant victory of  6-2 and 6-4 sets over his Bowdoin counterpart.

With the match count 4-3 in Colby’s favor, the next two matches would determine the evening’s result. Henry, outplayed, fell to Bowdoin’s player 6-1 and 6-3, so the result came down to a final match in the sixth singles. 

Ben Powis ’23, in his first match of the day, split sets with his Bowdoin opponent. While the first two sets were played out 6-1 and 4-6, the final set would determine the fate of Colby’s trip to Brunswick. Powis, sadly lost 6-3 in the final set and Bowdoin would win 5-4 on the day.

With a chance at redemption, Colby Men’s Tennis traveled down to Lewiston to take on the Bates Bobcats. Again, Colby fell early in the doubles rounds, as Barrett and Cohen fell to Bates’s first doubles pair. Henry and Schuermann, paired up again in second doubles, defeated their opponents in a confident 8-5 set. With wins mirroring at 1-1, Wenger and Bogdanovic lost to Bates’ third doubles 8-5 to round off the doubles sets 2-1 Bates.

Singles was a chance for Colby not only to come back, but send a message to Bates. Wenger took on a strong Bates’ first singles opponent and fell 6-2 and 6-4 in his sets to make the cumulative score 3-1 Bates. Colby Men’s Tennis, then, went on a tear. Barrett dominated his second singles’ opponent with 6-2 and 6-4 set victories. In third singles, Cohen took his opponent to 3 sets and came out on top to tie the cumulative score at three all. 

With momentum on their side, Colby kept their foot on the gas. Schuermann defeated his opponent handily with a 6-4 and shutout 6-0 set in fourth singles. With Bates’ top players out of the way ‑ and nearly all defeated, Henry and Powis cleaned up the remaining Bobcats with dominant sets to give the Mules a resounding victory overall.

Colby Women’s Tennis only had one match against Bates this past week, but looked to capitalize on their successful season, already with 8 wins to 3 loses and a 3-1 NESCAC record.

Hitting Bates hard early on, Colby took all three doubles points. In first doubles, duo Carly Levitz ’22 and Lindsey Hernandez ’22 beat down Bates’ players in a single 8-4 set. Second doubles of Sam Riordan ’24 and Sydney Landau ’24 continued Colby’s dominant run with an 8-3 victory. To round out the doubles matches in Colby’s favor, Caleigh McClain ’23 and Caroline Kittle ’25 took down Bates’ third doubles players 8-2.

With all the momentum going their way, Colby Women’s Tennis continued to break down Bates’ would-be competitors. Levitz took what should have been Bates’ strongest singles player in first singles, but ended up with two dominant set wins of 6-2 and 6-3. 

Second and third singles became a slight win for a weak Bates opposition. Riordan fought hard, taking her first set to 7-6 with a three point overtime before slipping into a 6-1 defeat to hand Bates a point. Landau, also battling hard against a strong opponent, dropped both sets 6-2 to give Bates another point, bringing and bring the total scoreline to 4-2. 

Colby, having saved Hernandez for fourth singles against another tough opponent, scored a three set victory to swing the momentum back in Colby’s favor. With a 5-2 lead, Kittle and Katherine Dougherty ’22 both had solid victories over their opponents to lock in a 7-2 win against an important divisional opponent and rival. 

Next up, Colby Women’s Tennis will hit the road to take on Bowdoin College and Tufts University in important matches to keep their winning momentum. Colby Men’s Tennis will look to maintain their winning ways against Tufts and Wesleyan Universities in the near future, two of four games before the upcoming NESCAC Championship.

~ Will Bedingfield `22