This past week, the tennis men and women trekked to the gentle hills of Denison University to unite with other 18 through 22 year olds in heated North Coast Athletic Conference championship competition. The antagonism of the weekend was abundant; both the Yeomen and Yeowomen completed their seasons in the third place match.

The women initially ousted Wooster, then scrambled in their second skirmish against Ohio Wesleyan, but bounced back in their bout against Kenyon. The women finished third in the conference. The men also fought valiantly, winning their first joust against Wittenberg, but they eventually fell to Kenyon and Wooster. The men finished fourth in the conference.

The men first beat Wittenberg 4-0 (the matches stop at four) with singles victories from senior Mark Knee, first-year Chris Pray and junior David Cotter and doubles from Pray/Cotter and junior Ananya Balaram/first-year Colin Burling. In championship matches, the men play until one of the two teams has four points (the women play to five). Kenyon didn’t give Oberlin a chance, shutting out the Yeomen 4-0 in the second round. Pray and the Balaram/Burling doubles team were the bright spots in the team’s cloudy 3-1 consolation match against Wooster.

“We met our expectations but didn’t exceed anything,” said sophomore Aaron Parker. He added that although the seniors battled extremely hard in their last match, they ended their careers disappointed that they had never beaten Wooster once in four years. The underclassmen showed hope for an eventual reversal of the Wooster rivalry trend; Pray finished the season with a 21-1 record at number three singles.

“We’d love to see more support from the fans next season since we’re one of Oberlin’s winning teams,” said Parker. When asked how he planned to “bring ‘em out,” Parker mumbled that he would have to “play a more interesting sport,” while his teammate first-year Tom Page vowed to “lift more.” The two eventually harmonized with the plea that Oberlin College students should come “if they want to see a hot European [Page] and a goofy-looking red-headed kid from Seattle [Parker] on the court.”

The women’s initial 5-0 Wooster victory can be attributed to seniors Ary Amerikaner and Jessica Hauser from the singles court and all three doubles teams, first-year Kimiko Glynn/sophomore Bianca Barr, Amerikaner/Hauser and first-year Jackie Golden/junior Kate Lurain. Hauser and the Glynn/Barr doubles team braced themselves against OWU, but it was not enough as the team lost their second round match 5-2. Still, Oberlin came out swinging and followed through 5-3 in the third place match against Kenyon. Glynn, Hauser, Golden and Lurain all won their singles while Glynn/Barr and Amerikaner/Hauser won doubles.

The Yeomen finish their accomplished season with a 13-8 record. Adding weight to the bar as they bench-press the argument that women are inherently superior to men, the Yeowomen close out at 17-4.