ORLANDO, Fla. – The Carleton College men's tennis team battled the Florida weather as well as Hope College on Thursday, with the Knights ultimately claiming a 7-2 victory over the Flying Dutch.
"After suffering a disappointing loss on Tuesday, I was pleased to see that we were eager to battle both the Florida heat and a strong opponent," said Carleton head coach
Stephan Zweifel.
Temperatures by the end of the match reached into the mid-80s
Tarm Rojanasoonthon (So./Bangkok, Thailand/Chulalongkorn) and
Tate Fuller (So./Seattle, Wash./Lakeside) returned to the win column with an 8-5 victory at No. 1 doubles.
Ozzie Viswanathan (Sr./Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) and
Zach Leslie (Fy./Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn) improved to 8-1 on the season with their 8-6 triumph at the second slot. Hope got a point back with an 8-2 decision at No. 3 doubles.
In singles, the depth of Carleton (9-2) lineup left the Flying Dutch with little hope of a comeback as Rojanasoonthon, Fuller, Viswanathan, and
Cooper Kline (Fy./Los Angeles, Calif./The Buckley School) each prevailed in straight sets.
Rojanasoonthon shook off Tuesday's loss in singles with a 6-4, 6-0 win at atop the lineup. Fuller followed suit, but flipped his set scores to register the 6-0, 6-4 triumph at No. 2 singles. Viswanathan and Kline were consistent, both winning by 6-3, 6-3 tallies. For Kline it was his team-best ninth dual match singles victory.
Although he captured the opening set at No. 4 singles, Leslie was forced to retire, giving Hope its other team point.
Yuv Kataria (Jr./Kolkata, India/Weil Academy & College Prep) played the day's longest match, fighting back from a set down to prevail 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3) at No. 5 singles.
"Watching Yuv grind his way through another grueling match, I am reminded of the Mark Twain quote, 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight that matters; it's the size of the fight in the dog'," said Zweifel.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton wraps up its Spring Break trip with a 10:00 a.m. EDT match against Trinity College (Conn.)
