Eastern's mens tennis squad started their spring season off against two powerhouse SEC teams, The University of Tennessee and The University of Kentucky. Both opponents were ranked amongst the top 15 teams in division 1 men's tennis (UK no. 7, Tennessee no. 13).
The Colonels managed to make both matches competitive, but in the end, fell short to their nationally ranked adversaries.
Eastern (0-2, 0-0 OVC) took the court Jan. 24 against the no. 7 team in the nation and 2011 SEC runners-up Kentucky (4-0, 0-0 SEC).
"UK is a whole ‘nother level of tennis for sure," Oertel said. "They're the only team in the country right now that has six players ranked in the top 125 in the country. With that said, we're gonna give it our best shot. And it's a great opportunity to beat a high ranked team."
At times it looked like they could do just that. But the immaculate play of UK's star senior and no. 1 seed Eric Quigley gave the Wildcats an early 1-0 start. After comfortably taking down Eastern's no. 1 seed Niklas Schroeder in the first set 6-1, Schroeder battled to make the second set competitive but ultimately was unsuccessful.
The final count: 6-1, 6-4 Quigley.
The night's most compelling and competitive matches featured Eastern's no. 2 seed Hugo Klientovsky and no. 3 seed Phillip Janz.
Janz, coming off of momentum from his win in Knoxville, squared off against UK's Grant Roberts. Roberts was narrowly able to clinch the first set 7-5. With hopes of putting Eastern on the board, Janz gave an outstanding effort in the second set but was unable to capitalize in a tie-break, making the final score: 7-5, 7-6 in favor of Roberts.
The only Colonel to capture a set was French-man Hugo Klientovsky. As he was able to come out red hot and steal the first set against nationally ranked Alejandro Gomez of UK. Althought it appeared the momentum was on Klientovsky's side, he was unable to hold off Gomez and eventually fell short with a final count of: 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The Wildcats eventually rounded out what would be a 6-0 win, as their no. 5, and no. 6 seeded players were able to take down Eastern's no. 5 seed Carles Pons and no. 6 seed Emilio Piriz in straight sets.
Eastern faced off against the Tennessee Volunteers (2-1, 0-0 SEC) in Knoxville this last Friday. In front of over 200 spectators, the Colonels fought valiantly. But in the end, the Volunteers were able to battle their way to an impressive 6-1 victory.
Although not able to pull off the upset, Oertel spoke on how he feels his team is capable of knocking off a high ranked opponent.
"I think we had a great opportunity, actually, to take down a high ranked team," Oertel said. "As you can see from the scores it was very competitive, and it just shows you how ready we are. We're so close to beating one of these ranked teams. We had a chance there and just a couple points here and there could have got us through."
No. 1 seed for Eastern Niklas Schroeder, looked to knock off standout freshman Mikelis Libietis for the Volunteers. Although Schroeder was able to steal the second set, Libietis captured the third set tie-breaker to seal the victory with a final count of 6-3, 5-7, 10-3.
No. 2 seed for Eastern, Hugo Klientovsky and no. 4 seed Parul Verma, also came up short after a supreme effort against their respective opponents, both losing 3-6, 3-6 in straight sets.
Carles Pons, the Colonels' no. 6 seed, showed promise against the Volunteers Bryan Swartz but was unable to pull off the win as he fell: 7-5, 6-2.
The Volunteers' no. 5 seed Taylor Patrick proved to be too much for Eastern's Joao Maio. Patrick was able to take the match in straight sets: 6-1, 6-1.
Eastern's lone victory came from the exceptional play of senior and no. 3 seed Philip Janz, who was able to defeat the Volunteers' Hunter Reese in a three set thriller. After successfully taking the first set, Janz was unable to keep the momentum going in the second as he fell 2-6. But after regaining his composure, he orchestrated a remarkable third set, picking up the victory in a tie-break, making the final count 6-4, 2-6, 10-7.
Oertel was extremely pleased with the way Janz performed.
"Phillip played like a senior," Oertel said. "Phil definitely played one of his best three matches as a Colonel. He played nice tennis. He fought hard, he competed hard, no matter what the score was."
Eastern looks to rebound from its losses as they host both The University of the Cumberlands and University of Dayton for a doubleheader home opener.
Dayton (0-0), a fairly young team, comes in hoping to make a statement by knocking off the Colonels.
The University of the Cumberlands (1-1), will also be looking to upset the defending OVC champions.
Those matches are scheduled to take place Jan. 28th at 10 a.m.
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