By Pat Tintle
Staff Writer
The men’s tennis fall season began on Sept. 8 in Annapolis, Md., where the Bonnies struggled at the four-school Navy Invite against Navy, Delaware and Temple.
“It’s the first tournament of the year, so it’s always a little tough,” Head Coach Michael Bates said. “You don’t know how much they practiced or trained over the summer, so coming back in is always an experience to try and learn.”
Day one of the tournament saw a single Bonnie win coming from senior Javier Ortiz in the singles number two position. Ortiz beat Temple’s Heman Vasconez by scores of 6-3 and 6-4.
“(Ortiz) is playing pretty well right now,” Bates said. “He had a good first day and the second day he played a good match, but took a tough loss.”
Ortiz had a stand-out performance over the weekend, according to Bates.
“Last year, I was playing number four and this year I started playing number two, which is a little more difficult because of the tennis level,” Ortiz said. “The first matches of the season are always tough, but I think the experience from my previous three years helped me feel quite confident.”
Day two of the invitational did not change the Bonnies’ fortunes, as the team again won just one match. The number one duo of senior Elliot Fanshell and Javier Ortiz gave Bonaventure their first doubles victory of the year with a score of 8-6.
The final day of play in Annapolis saw the Bonnies win three matches. The team won their second doubles match with the duo of sophomore Celso de Vera Rehberger and junior Trevor Haskell defeating Delaware’s Evan Andrews and Tyler Flematti.
The next two Bonnie victories came from Haskell and freshman Jacob Mishkin as they both beat Delaware in singles matches.
A losing weekend in Annapolis is a tough way to start the season Ortiz said.
“There is always something to improve on,” Ortiz said. “But for the next match, we need small adjustments in our game, most importantly the conditioning and mental parts.”
The scheduled Hybrid Event on Sept. 20-23 has been cancelled, meaning the Bonnies will look ahead to Sept. 27 when they will hold the SBU Fall Classic. The time and teams have yet to be announced for this event.
The women’s tennis team will begin its fall season this weekend against Colgate and Youngstown State.
“Youngstown State is a very good team and Colgate beat us last year 4-3, so it should be a tough one,” Bates said.
tintlepj11@bonaventure.edu
