The Tribe closed out its fall season with a strong performance at the fifth annual Tribe Invitational, held at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center this weekend.
“I thought we showed improvement from the beginning of the match to the end,” Head Coach Peter Daub said.
Senior Sebastian Vidal, who had four victories this past weekend, was named to the all-singles team, while sophomore Jamie Whiteford and freshmen Ben Hoogland and Ben Guthrie made the all-doubles team.
“I felt it was my best tournament of the fall,” Vidal said. “I was finally able to get some wins, which was important.”
The tournament, which drew Notre Dame, the College of Charleston and the University of Maryland, ran Friday through Sunday. The Tribe will host Notre Dame and Maryland again in the spring season.
“There were some good teams; Notre Dame is one of the best in the country,” sophomore Adrian Vodislav said. “We all competed well and ended the fall season on a good note.”
Friday began with Vidal, Hoogland and Vodislav each earning a pair of singles victories, while sophomores Anton Andersson and Daniel Mihalov added one each. In doubles play, Vidal and Whiteford took their game 8-3, while Hoogland and Guthrie won 8-5.
On Saturday, the Tribe struggled in singles flight, but took four of six doubles matches. Vidal and Whiteford and Hoogland and Guthrie each split their matches, while the team of junior Ilija Orre and Banks went undefeated on the afternoon, winning 8-3 and 9-7.
Sunday’s play began with a flight of doubles, in which Vodislav and Banks fell. The College then won its next three doubles matches, but the fatigued Tribe team struggled to close out the tournament, and lost six of the seven singles matches.
“Fall is tough, we work very hard,” Vidal said. “We have lifting at six in the morning. But we’ve been putting in the work and it’s been paying off.”
It has been an important fall season for the relatively young team, which lost two strong seniors, Keziel Juneau and Richard Wardell, to graduation last year.
But Daub isn’t worried. He said that he is proud of the improvements the team has made since the beginning of the season.
“We lose seniors every year,” Daub said. “Everyone is stepping up as leaders on the team. They are warriors out there, and hopefully we can get some W’s.”
The Tribe will open its spring season Jan. 13, hosting Winthrop and Richmond at the McCormack-Nagelson Tennis Center.
