Rhodes College faced two SAA opponents over the weekend on their home courts. On April 13th the Lynx faced Berry College out of Rome, GA.

The men came out hot and swept in the doubles. Rob Steinwedell and Sanders Phelps won an impressive 8-1 match at #1 doubles. In the singles the Lynx carried their momentum and took all six singles courts decisively. Greyson Brilliant had a tough match at #4 singles but managed to pull it out 10-4 in the third set tiebreaker.

The women had a difficult match-up against #17th regionally ranked Berry. The match started off well for the Lady Lynx, winning #1 and #3 doubles. In the singles it's always a toss up against good teams. Usually the match is won at the doubles lines and this is just what happened against Berry. The Lynx played very tough at the top of the line-up.

Maggie Donoghue, Amelia McIsaac, and Emily Rizer all won their match at the top 3 singles positions. Donoghue won a solid 6-1, 7-5 match. Emily Rizer won 6-1, 6-4 after going down 0-3 in the second set. She managed to battle back and gave the girl only one more game the rest of the set. McIsaac had a tougher match but pulled out a gruelling third set with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to clinch the match! "She played strong consistent tennis on the key points in the third set to win the match for the Lynx." ,said Coach Hatgas. 

The Lynx dropped matches at the bottom 3 spots of the line-up as well as number two doubles but managed to hold on for a 5-4 victory. The women did well to defend their #10 regional ranking by defeating yet another regionally ranked opponent. Way to go Lynx!

Against Oglethorpe the women had an easy time and the men were in a dog fight.

The women won the match 7-2 quicklky. Winning at #1 and #2 doubles 8-3 and 8-1 and doing a lot of the same in singles. Emily, Amelia, and Maggie won all their first sets 6-0. Elyse Smith lost a tough 3 set match in tough windy conditions 10-5 in the 3rd set breaker. Julia Greene won a highly contested three setter at #6 singles with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 10-8. The Lynx finished up conference play with this win against Oglethorpe and they go into conference with only one SAA defeat. They expect to go into the tournament as the #2 seed.

The men had quite a different day. They were swept in doubles for only the second time this season against D-III opponents. "The guys played intimidated and afraid to get the ball. I expect this to turn around by conference tournament and the guys should prepare to do a lot of doubles for the next two weeks as we prepare for the SAA tournament." said Coach Mann. In the singles Colin Perry, Graham Sowden, and Rob Steinwedell all lost in three set matches. Sanders Phelps played a clean and consistent match to win 6-3, 6-3 against Motz from Oglethorpe. 

The highligh of today came from freshman Eliot Blatt who played his best match to date as a Lynx. He stayed within himself and didn't give his opponent any room to breath on big points. Coach Mann commented after the match that, "Eliot really stepped up today. A match like this will be huge for his confidence moving forward as he continues to discover his identity on the court." 

The men lost 7-2 to Oglethorpe making this the second SAA defeat on the season and puts the Lynx men as the #3 seed going into the SAA tournament in Murfreesboro at the end of April.

The Lynx are back in action April 20th against Mississippi College. Good luck Lynx!!