Oberlin men’s and women’s tennis teams improved this past weekend in their doubleheader against Earlham this past Saturday. After their losses against Denison five days earlier, both teams were looking to turn things around against Earlham sides below them in the standings.

The men started off strong in the doubles portion of the match with juniors Chris Pray and Colin Burling leading at the one. The two took an early lead and kept Denison to only one point, taking the match 8-1. Sophomore David Midler was paired with junior Ezra Goldman at the two. They grabbed a dominating victory of 8-0 fairly quickly, joined by senior Arthur Zeyda and junior Tom Page with their victory of 8-1 at the three.

Pray played the one and received a bit of a fight from his opponent; however, he took him down in both sets for the 6-4, 6-3 win. Midler came in at the two and had a tougher time in his first set, losing 1-6. Midler got over his early struggles to regain his footing in the second, winning 6-4 and completely dominating the third set with a 10-1 victory.

The next three matches took the game into bagel country as Zeyda, Goldman and Burling all won straight sets of 6-0 with some impressive play at the three, four and five, respectively. A couple of breadsticks from Page ended the match, winning straight sets of 6-1 and putting the final nail into the Earlham coffin, and then burning it. Oberlin defeated Earlham handily, 9-0.

The women had a tougher time than the men did, starting off with a difficult set of doubles matches. Senior Bianca Barr was paired with sophomore Elle Anzinger in a close match at the one. The women fought hard throughout their match, matching point for point and shot for shot, leading into a tiebreaker. Earlham was able to make a few more shots than Oberlin, though, as Barr and Anzinger lost 8-9 (5-7).

Junior Jackie Golden and sophomore Kelly Sipp played an even harder match at the two, losing 1-8. The only win out of doubles for Oberlin came from the Hayden sisters, sophomores Olivia and Jane, giving the team a bagel win of 8-0.

Singles play started off a little better with Barr playing a great game at the one. After a relentless number of great shots and counters, Barr walked off the court with two breadsticks of 6-1 for the second win of the match. Anzinger had a harder time at the two, as she was unable to gain a good foothold against Denison. She lost straight sets of 4-6. Golden didn’t have it any easier, though she managed to drag out the first set into a tiebreaker. She won that set, 7-6 (7-4), but lost the following sets 2-6 and 1-6.

The match was now at sudden death for the women, as Olivia Hayden managed to keep the match alive at the four with a strong win in her first set of 6-2. Her opponent managed to win the second set, sending it to a tiebreaker, but Olivia still gained the win of 7-6 (7-5). Sipp brought home the fourth win at the five with victories of 6-0, 6-1. The deciding match was played at the six by Jane Hayden. Dominating the whole match, Hayden left with two bagels for the women with her straight set win of 6-0. Oberlin squeezed out the win against Earlham 5-4.

Both teams play in the NCAC tournament at Denison in Granville, Ohio. The women play on Friday and Saturday, while the men compete on Saturday and Sunday.