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The Olivet College men’s and women’s tennis teams have officially wrapped things up for the fall. They plan on bringing the season back early spring. Both teams played against Cornerstone University, Concordia University, and Trine University.
Matches against Calvin and both matches against Albion were unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19. Olivet College is currently 2-1 with wins against Concordia and Trine.
Makenzie Borg, sophomore on the Women’s Tennis, was nothing but positive about the team’s future.
“Our team this fall gained a lot of new players, overall I think we competed well against our opponents considering how young our team is.” said Borg.
With COVID-19 still very present in the world, tennis has been one of the few sports on campus that was able to continue matches and practices. Teams like the basketball and football teams are not allowed to practice.
Sam Vondra, sophomore, gave his point of view on what it was like to be playing tennis in the middle of a pandemic where major league athletics like the Olympics, National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Hockey League (NHL) all were postponed.
“It is kind of awesome in a way. Reason being that we essentially have all eyes on us right now that we have not experienced before. I feel like we are the big dogs on campus and everyone knows us and knows what we are about.” said Vondra.
Coach Andrew DeBruyn believed that the program is in good shape for the spring season especially with a huge win against on the men's team. They beat Trine 5-4.
“Our tennis teams did very well considering all the changes going into this unique year. The changes we did deal with were minor and very adaptable. Our Men’s Team went 2-1 overall with a huge 5-4 win against Trine,” DeBruyn said. “Fortunately tennis is considered a low risk sport, and we are able to safely distance ourselves being outdoors on the courts. We put a great emphasis on singles practice and in drills split up into smaller groups to avoid close contact. We just completed our fall season at the end of September, and are set to begin match indoors in February.”
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