Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Elite Teams Shine at ITA

In order to give his young teams more experience, Head Coach Gordie Ernst changed the region in which Georgetown plays.

Instead of playing some of the weaker teams from the Northeast in fall season matches, Ernst moved the teams to the more competitive Mid-Atlantic region. The difference showed this weekend at the ITA Atlantic Regional tournaments at Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University. While the men and women both played well, they were ultimately defeated by nationally ranked opponents.

At ODU, sophomore Michael Clarke and freshman Charlie Caris both scored upset first-round victories. Clarke’s victory came in two relatively straightforward sets, 7-5, 6-2, while Caris advanced in a three-set battle 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.

Caris then partnered with Anthony Muki Tan to record his 14th-straight victory. Unfortunately, all good things must come to end. Caris’ winning streak ended the next day against the tournament No. 7 seed sophomore Patrick Daciek of Virginia Tech, 6-4, 6-4.

Caris did show some of the good form that brought him those 14 victories, holding 4-2 leads in both sets, but he ultimately could not hold on.

On the women’s side, the Hoyas were the victims of bad luck, as freshman Victoria Sekely drew the tournament’s No. 1 seed in the second round, one round after dominating freshman Lexi Brand of Maryland 6-2, 6-0.

Junior co-captains Alex Sebia and Caroline Kuehn were forced to play the No. 1 seeds in the first doubles match, which they lost 6-1. In the second round, Sekely was dominated by the aforementioned first seed, sophomore Michaela Kissell of the University of Miami, which is ranked in the top 40, by the score of 6-1, 6-0.

While the Hoyas dealt with some tough losses, Ernst found solace in the experience his younger players picked up.

“ITAs are all about going against very tough competition and tough teams,” Ernst said in a release. “Every game, every set, every match, is a learning experience for all of our players and I think our players will really grow from this weekend’s matches.”

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