By: Brendan Burris ~Staff Writer~
After being swept by Ohio State (OSU), the second half of the men’s tennis season was off to a slow start.
Since dropping the match to OSU, the team has now won five of its last six matches, with a close loss to Big East rival DePaul.
In the six-game stretch, the Musketeers compiled a 29-13 record in all counted games.
The team opened conference play early in the year, starting that part of their season falling to DePaul on Feb. 1.
Junior Zach Mueck and freshman Arthur Stefani were the only Musketeers to register victories against the Blue Demons, a team returning two All-Big East selections from last year.
Although conference play started with a loss, the Musketeers will face their next Big East opponent, Marquette, on March 21.
The Musketeers’ most recent match was a 5-2 victory in Indianapolis against IUPUI.
The first match of the day was played by Mueck and redshirt sophomore Matt Bishop, who narrowly won their doubles match 7-5.
Xavier headed into singles play with a commanding lead over the Jaguars due to strong perfromance from the entire team.
Singles matches faired the same way with Mueck, Bishop and freshmen Gabriel Araujo and Connor LaFarve all winning their respective matches for the team.
Throughout the day, the Musketeers only failed to win two singles matches, leading to a relatively easy victory on the day.
With previous wins against teams such as Lipscomb, Eastern Kentucky, Toledo and Belmont, the Musketeers are hitting the middle of their schedule playing very well and should be looking to continue their great play for the duration of the season.
Besides a five-game home stretch in March and April, the team will travel to Muncie, Ind., Kennesaw, Ga., Abilene and Arlington, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio for away matchups.
They complete the season in Indianapolis against Butler and Creighton and then will head to compete in the Big East Championships from April 23-26 (location TBD).
The team looks to build on recent success to propel it forward to a strong finish to the season.
The next home match is at noon on March 15 against Western Illinois University.