The sophomore duo of Felix Corwin and Matic Spec finished with a 1-2 record in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Indoors.
The pair was knocked out of the main draw in the first round. Spec and Corwin fell to Romain Bogaerts and Maksim Kan of Wake Forest University in three sets on Thursday.
The two bounced back in the first round of the consolation draw, winning in two sets 6-3 and 6-3.
“It was a bit tough because it was on the same day as the first match, so we had to motivate ourselves again,” Spec said. “It’s hard because this is a pretty good group of doubles players.”
Spec and Corwin finished the tournament by losing in two sets to senior Henry Craig and junior Alex Gasson of Denver in the second match of the first round consolation.
Weber thrives at the Lakewood Ranch Invite
The men’s tennis team finished 4-7 in singles and 0-2 in doubles at the Lakewood Ranch Invitational, which concluded on Sunday.
Senior Ruben Weber was the only Minnesota player to win his match in the main draw of the tournament. Weber made it to the finals of the singles main draw. The senior said he was surprised he even traveled to the tournament.
“I was sick the night before, and I didn’t really know I could travel to Lakewood Ranch, so it was really surprising to me that I did that well,” Weber said.
Freshman Marino Alpeza, freshman Justyn Levin and junior Jeremy Lynn were the other three Minnesota players to travel to the tournament. All three lost in the main draw and consolation for singles.
“They lost they’re matches, but they competed pretty well, and hopefully they learned some things about their game that they will go and work on,” head coach Geoff Young said.
Both doubles groups of Lynn and Alpeza, along with Levin and Weber were defeated in the first round as well.
“There were some good things, and there were some things we could have done better,” Young said. “We had some new doubles pairings, which shouldn’t have mattered too much. We have to earn some things and get better.”
Women struggle at the Thunderbird Invite
The women’s tennis team went 3-6 in singles and 1-3 in doubles at the Thunderbird Invite in Tempe, Ariz., which wrapped up on Sunday.
Some of the matches that were scheduled on Sunday were suspended due to rain.
All three Minnesota players lost in the first round of the singles main draw at the tournament.
Junior Maja Vujic lost in the main draw but rebounded in the consolation bracket. Vujic won her first two consolation matches, and the third match was suspended due to rain.
Sophomore Caroline Ryba and junior Mehvish Safdar both lost in the first round of the consolation.
Ryba and Safdar were the only all-Minnesota doubles pair to win a match at the tournament.
“Overall, the girls just competed really well, and I was really proud of them,” said associate head coach Whitney Taney. “Overall, it was a great tournament.”
