The Marquette tennis teams served up two wins each in their home-opening weekend. The women’s team scored a 6-1 victory over UIC and a 7-0 sweep over Green Bay in a morning-evening double-header Saturday.
The men’s team, meanwhile, downed IUPUI 6-1 Saturday afternoon before returning to the court for a Sunday sweep over Illinois State.
Freshman Fleur Eggink had a strong regular season debut for the women’s team, teaming up with reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Silvia Ambrosio for a pair of top-spot doubles victories. The duo downed their UIC opponents 6-4 before returning later in the day for a clean 6-0 victory over Green Bay.
Eggink also made an impression during singles play, where head coach Jody Bronson slotted her into the No. 4 position, winning 6-2, 6-2 over UIC’s Bianca Zuzu and 6-2, 6-1 over Green Bay’s Tallie Piaskowski.
“She had a very good day. She was pretty solid in both singles and doubles,” Bronson said. “I think in doubles, (Eggink and Ambrosio) are a pretty good team together. They both have great skills at the net, and they both have pretty strong baseline games to set each other up. They really work well together that way. Fleur is just so athletic and can get to so many balls. For a first match, yeah, it was a pretty good day for her.”
The Ambrosio and Eggink pairing led the way as the women’s team finished undefeated in doubles through the whole weekend. Upperclassmen Diana Tokar and Paula Tormos Sanchez reunited from last season to hold down the No. 2 slot while Lesley Foe and Isabella Franks made for an all-freshman third doubles team.
The women’s team is now 2-0 in dual season. They travel to Madison to take on inter-state rivals next Saturday.
After falling victim last week to a sweep at Minnesota, the men’s team looked to right the ship in their home court debut.
“We just got swallowed up (in Minnesota). We dug ourselves in holes we couldn’t get out of. But I think our guys really took it to heart, and it kind of stung a little bit,” head coach Steve Rodecap said. “We had a really good week of practice. The guys didn’t sit around feeling sorry for themselves.”
Rodecap similarly looked to youth to help fill up the roster, with freshman Luke Smrek getting starts as the team’s second-ranked singles player.
Saturday, Smrek dropped just a single game over two sets against his IUPUI opponent. He didn’t get through the weekend entirely unscathed, however, as ISU’s Dylan Steffens pushed the freshman through a grueling three-set match. Smirk ultimately won 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.
“(Smrek) played a really feisty competitor, who tried to make Luke play a certain way that Luke didn’t want to play. (Steffens) tried to junk ball Luke around a little bit, forcing him to play awkward and run around a bit too much. Luke’s a big guy, who needs to be dictating and punishing opponents corner-to-corner,” Rodecap said. “Luke got down 2-0 in the third set, then started dictating the play. That’s growth, and I’m really happy with his development.”
The men’s team comes out of the weekend 2-1 in dual play. They host the University of Toledo Friday.