In a rather odd setting for spring sports this year, Cabrini prepared their sports teams to play. Lacrosse, baseball and softball were the headliners. Many students, faculty and staff disregard the fact that there is a tennis team as well.
The Cabrini men’s tennis team has had two meets so far and are 2-0, with two meetings remaining. Cabrini’s women’s tennis team is 0-3 with one meet remaining. The first meet for both teams was canceled, which was supposed to take place at Cairn University, in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
Given their current record, the women’s tennis team has been struggling. They have not won a meet yet, nor have won a singles or doubles match in the three meets thus far. The three losses have been to Gwynedd Mercy University 0-7, at Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania, 0-9 against Marywood University, in Scranton, Pennsylvania and 0-9 against Cabrini’s arch-rival, Immaculata University, at the Dixon Tennis Courts. They have one more match against Neumann University on April 30th. Their efforts so far have been contributed by senior, Madison Smith, junior Raechel Aviles, and sophomore, Sydney Kesselman. Depth provided by sophomore, Natalie Bell, and freshman, Kara Bradl.
The men’s tennis team is 2-0 so far, having defeated Gwynedd Mercy 5-4, at the Dixon Tennis Courts. Their last meet was against Marywood and they defeated them 7-0. The match was held at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Their victorious efforts in both meets were led by seniors: Dalton Roberto, Ben Mead and Max Schneider. The men’s team is rounded out with depth from junior, Ryan Calderaro, , sophomore, Mason Bennetch and sophomore, Tien Tran.
The men’s team will compete in the postseason Atlantic East Conference Tournament. Every team from the Atlantic East Conference will be participating in the tournament. The tournament is located at the Legacy Youth Tennis Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The women’s team despite being 0-3 qualify for the Atlantic East Conference Tournament as well. There will be singles and doubles events in the tournament between the members of the conference. “Only having conference matches instead of having non-conference matches, made the practices this season more significant and increased the amount of pressure,” Smith said. Fortunately for the women’s team, they still have a shot at winning the conference through the tournament.
photo by Chris Schaller
In a normal season, there are about 12-13 regular-season meets for both the men’s and women’s teams. Adding onto the regular-season games there is an early-season invitational and the post-season Atlantic East Conference tournament. “The matches do feel more significant because we only have a limited amount of opportunities this season,” Calderaro said. Tennis normally takes place in the spring, which unlike fall sports such as soccer and volleyball was not delayed to the spring.
Cabrini’s men’s match meet against Neumann University, scheduled for April 21st, was postponed. More information will be revealed on why it was postponed. As of now, the women’s match is still scheduled to take place on April 21st.
There has to be a minimum of at least three single matchups. Three of the five women and men are selected for singles matches versus the opponent. If there are more than three players available, at most a match can consist of five singles between five different players. For a doubles match, there will only be one match maximum. Two of the five and two of the six will be selected for a doubles match.
While both parts of the same program, the men’s and women’s teams have had very different results so far this season. Despite both of the team’s records, they both will be competing to win the conference tournament in May.
