Men’s tennis opens season with ups and downs

The Maryville College men’s tennis team opened its spring season on Feb. 27 against Covenant College and the following day against Greensboro College.

After the sun set on Sunday evening, the Scots left the courts with a 1 and 1 record, losing to Covenant College 9-0 and pulling out a strong victory against the Pride of Greensboro 8-1. This weekend marked the last opening set for two fourth-year tennis players: Will Marttala and Dakota McMahan.

McMahan, who has been forced to support from the sidelines because of a fall surgery, looks forward to playing for the Scots once again.

“I don’t like not being able to play, especially since I’ve started for the past three years,” McMahan said. “Last season I played injured so I was not able to play my best. Now I know I will be able to play near the end of the season pain free.”

Saturday was an anticlimactic moment for the MC Scots. Doubles play began hopefully against Covenant College; however, Maryville would end the day without a single victory. Freshman Marcos Escudero lost in a third-set tiebreaker 10-6, which would be the closest to victory any Scot would come all day.

After getting the first match of the season out of the way, it was time to face the Greensboro College Pride. The Scots’ men completely turned the score around in their second bout of the weekend, defeating the Pride 8-1 but losing a close doubles match in a 7-2 tiebreaker.

The Scots went on to play LaGrange on March 5 at home. The team took to the courts at 12:00 pm to face the Panthers in a grueling five-hour challenge. But despite the long fight, the Panthers came away with a win, defeating the Scots 7-2.

A doubles team comprised of Escudero and Daniel Silva led MC with the only doubles win of the day. Silva also followed up with the lone singles win against LaGrange as well.

Maryville will prepare for their next match as they travel Mar. 12 to face Huntingdon.