Men’s tennis sweeps Hawaii, extends winning streak

Feb. 24, 2015, 11:31 p.m.

Stanford’s men’s tennis team defeated Hawaii (3-4) on Tuesday, dominating 7-0 to notch their second shutout of the season. This victory extends their winning streak to five matches, pulling their season record up to 6-2.

The day started with three doubles matches that would combine for a single point in the overall score. The team of junior Trey Strobel and sophomore Yale Goldberg prevailed first, breezing to a 6-1 victory, followed closely by a 6-3 victory by the team of junior Nolan Paige and freshman David Wilczynski. Because of these two swift triumphs, the third doubles match, in which seniors John Morrissey and Robert Stineman were battling neck-and-neck with their Hawaiian counterparts, did not even have to be completed.

Senior John Morrissey (above) had key
Senior John Morrissey (above) had key victories in both doubles and singles in the sweep against Hawaii this weekend. (NICK SALAZAR/The Stanford Daily).

The singles matches ensued in a similar fashion. Stanford was able to sweep all six matches in straight sets, despite playing without their usual No. 1 player (and No. 26 in the country) freshman Tom Fawcett. Wilczynski on first court was the first to dispatch his opponent, dropping only four games in two sets to start the ball rolling for the Cardinal.

The most exciting match of the day was probably Morrissey’s against Hawaii’s Kai Wehnelt, who was rather agitated throughout the game, at times channeling his inner Chewbacca and just screaming as loud as he could. In many of his fits of rage he would mutter to himself (or shout at the chair umpire) in German. Upon further review of Hawaii’s roster, it turns out half of their six active players in yesterday’s match were from Germany, with a couple playing semi-professionally there before entering college. This turned out to be no problem for the Cardinal, however, who did not drop a set all day.

The team hopes to continue their streak this Friday, when they go on the road to face their biggest challenge of the season: USC, the No. 1 team in the country.

Contact Paul Steenkiste at pws ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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