The Rhodes tennis teams made the trip up the mountain to play the Sewanee Tigers on Saturday, April 6th.

The women's match featured regionally ranked #10 Lynx against regionally ranked #4 Sewanee in a grudge match. The match started off slowly for the Lynx in doubles. Maggie Donoghue and Emily Rizer playing from the #1 spot played a strong match but couldn't convert on the big points. They played two good points a game but against a strong team like the Tigers it takes three or four good points to win the game. Amelia and Elle lost a well contested doubles match at #2. The other team came up with big returns at key moments to win the match 8-4. At #3 doubles Courtney Hornsby and Julia Greene came up against a very competitive team. The Sewanee duo didn't give any cheap points and forced the Lynx to earn every point the won. The Tigers won 8-2 to complete the sweep. 

In the singles the Lynx competed well but couldn't convert on enough key situations. Emily Rizer started off great by winning a first set tiebreaker at #3 singles. In the second set her opponent stepped up her level of play and adjusted her game plan to force a third set tiebreaker. Emily was striking the ball very well but in the tiebreaker the unforced errors started to creep in and her Sewanee opponent siezed the moment. 

The highlight of the day for the Lady Lynx came from the #5 singles spot. Elle Prewitt played her best match of the year by far in her three set victory. She took the first set 6-4 after an hour long set of grinding and scrapping. Prewitt dropped the second set 6-2 and it was down to a third set 10 point breaker. "Elle played great tennis. By far the best match of her freshman season and it came against one of the toughest teams we faced all season. If she continues this level of play, Elle will be a tough competitor at any position.", said Coach Hatgas after the match.

The final score was 8-1 in favor of the Tigers.  

On the men's side it was a very close match. The Lynx started the match with the first point by winning #1 doubles. It was a tight match until Rob Steinwedell ripped a short angle forehand return to give the Lynx the lead 7-5. In the next game Rob closed out the match with big first serves and the help of Sanders putting away volleys. Rob and Sanders have been playing great doubles as of late and showed up against Sewanee today, winning 8-5. At the #3 doubles spot Colin and Greyson came out slow and never had the opportunity to battle back against a very confident Sewanee team of Roddy and Hopkins.

The match of the day came from the #2 doubles spot. Eliot Blatt and Graham Sowden started off very hot and jumped to a 5-2 lead. Sewanee battled back and went up 6-5. The teams traded holds and took it to a tiebreaker. The Lynx went down 4-2 to start the breaker before picking it up and turning the match into an emotional rollercoaster. At 8-8 Graham hit a huge forehand return that Eliot was able to poach on and finish the point to get their first match point of the day. At 9-8 in the breaker the Lynx duo couldn't put it together, losing the point and letting the Tigers stick around. Down 10-9 they faced a match point against them but were able to come up with consistent play to bring it back, which ended with Graham hitting a great lob over his opponents. At 12-11 both teams played a strong point and it ended with Sewanee putting away an overhead to win the match. This doubles match turned out to be the deciding factor of the day.

In the singles the Lynx were able to claim 3 wins. Eliot Blatt won a close 7-5, 6-4 match at the #3 spot. He played tough consistent tennis in the windy conditions and was able to wear his opponent down on the big points. At the #6 spot Graham Sowden continued his strong play and pulled out a good win in the third set breaker 10-8. His serve and forehand were clicking all day. He started his singles match with two forehand winners in the first game to break his opponent right away.

The best match of the year for Captain senior Phelps came today against his Sewanee opponent. "Phelps finally started to play his game. He showcased his defensive abilities when needed but what won him the match was his aggression when the opportunity was there.", said Coach Mann. Phelps played a clean match in his 6-2, 6-1 victory over Jackson at #1 singles which gave the Lynx four victories. The guys dropped all the other matches in straight sets.

The final score of the men's match was 5-4 Sewanee.

Despite the loss, the Lynx are feeling confident going into the conference tournament at the end of April. Both teams are starting to peak and it can't come at a better time.

The Lynx are back in action April 20th against SAA opponent Oglethorpe University at Rhodes on their home courts. Come out and support! GO LYNX!!