By Robbie Dzierzanowski, Staff Writer

The Xavier men’s tennis team continued their opening to the 2024 spring season with a trip to Ohio State and the women’s team is off to a 1-1 record to start the season.  

The men dropped the match at a final score of 0-7 versus the Buckeyes, and now drop to 0-3 on the season. The trouble comes as the Muskies drop the third match in just the last two weeks, after an above .500 record finish last season. 

The men march on to take on the Cardinals of Ball State today (Jan. 24) in Cincinnati. The Cardinals are 11-3 against the Muskies since 2005, with the last matchup occurring earlier in 2023 where the Musketeers fell in a final 1-6 score.  

The slump comes as the men’s Head Coach Ryan Rasco announced during the fall recruiting period that the Musketeers would be adding a four-star recruit Alex Kotarski from Hinsdale, Ill. Kotarski has been ranked as high as 124th nationally in his class and is currently ranked at fifth in the state of Illinois. At his high school, Hinsdale Central, he helped the Red Devils secure the 2022 IHSA State Championship with his talents.  

In addition to Kotarski,  Rasco announced the addition of another recruit during the recruiting period, this time a five-star and top 100 recruit nationally. 

Andrew Spurck is ranked 53 nationally and is the number three ranked player in the state of Illinois, attending Kotarski’s neighboring high school called William Fremd High School.  

In his time being ranked, Spruck has been ranked as high as 36th nationally. Spruck also boasts loads of experience and assistance to his high school team, as he won the IHSA Class 2A Singles State Championship, and in the act helped Fremd High School to a third-place team finish. He also placed third in the state singles championship in 2022. 

On the other end of the block, the Xavier women’s tennis team opened their season last week, going 1-1 in their two matches. The women opened the season with a 7-0 sweep of neighboring Northern Kentucky, with Xavier picking up wins on all three courts.  

Specifically, senior Imani Graham and redshirt senior Anna Roggenburk paired up for a 6-1 win on the No. 1 court. Sophomore Emily Flowers and freshman Sofia Mazzucato took a 6-3 win on the No. 2 court and senior Blessing Nwaozuzu and sophomore Abigail Siminski earned 6-1 win on the No. 3 court. As a large piece to note, Xavier swept all six singles courts in two sets. 

This week, the women traveled up to West Layfayette, In. to take on the Boilmakers of Purdue. The team couldn’t get much generated, as they fell by a final score of 0-7 verses Purdue.  

Xavier returns to Cincinnati from Purdue to host a pair of matches at Eastern Hills this weekend, beginning with Yale on Friday, Jan. 26 at 4 p.m. The Musketeers wrap up the weekend on Saturday, Jan. 27 against Toledo at 4:30 p.m. at Eastern Hills. 

Women’s head tennis coach Doug Matthews announced a transfer commitment from Cincinnati — sophomore Elizabeth Pendergast — in December 2023. Pendergast, a Cincinnati native, was the Cincinnati Enquire Women’s Tennis Player of the Year in high school and is coming off of an American Athletic Conference (AAC) All-Conference performance at UC. In her career for Cincinnati, Pendergast collected 35 combined wins in dual matches in two spring seasons  including 17 singles wins in the No. 1 spot.   

 She earned AAC All-Conference honors after earning a combined 18 wins during the dual season, including nine wins in the No. 1 singles spot and nine doubles wins. 

The women’s roster also adds freshman Ellie Brotherton, who has split her singles matches this season, and retains reigning Big East Freshman of the Year Abby Nugent, who is yet to play a match this spring.

Photo courtesy of Xavier Athletics

Photo cap: Senior Imani Graham is the reigning Big East Player of the Year and 2023 All  Big-East first team selection. The Florida native has competed in six Women’s Tennis Association matches. 

Subhed: Both Musketeer tennis programs split their respective meets on opening weekend