Posted: Jun 09, 2015
They began their season by heading down to South Carolina to play in the annual tournament held at Hilton Head. This proved to be some good competition for the Maroons heading into ODAC play. The tennis team led off the tournament with wins against Lebanon Valley and Elizabethtown, and then dropped a game against NCAA Championship bound Wilkes College. After dropping a close contest to Mount Union (4-5), they bounced back and won two more games against St. John Fisher and York (Pa.).
Heading into ODAC play with a 4-2 record, the men's tennis team handled Shenandoah in an 8-1 victory. The Maroons had a rough patch throughout the next six games where they dropped five of them. During this stretch they were barely defeated by #37 Washington & Lee (4-5) who were also eighth in the ITA Atlantic South Region. The Generals had to pick up victories in the #5 and #6 singles in order to pull off the victory in the end.
After the rough stretch in the middle of the season, the Maroons bounced back and finished the season strong by winning three out of their last four games. They picked up wins against Emory & Henry (5-0), Lynchburg (5-1), and Randolph-Macon (5-4) to conclude the regular season.
Unfortunately the men's tennis season came to a close in the ODAC Tournament where they were the sixth seed. They dropped their contest to third-seeded Guilford by a score of 3-6.
Two Roanoke College Men's Tennis players were named to the 2015 All-ODAC Men's Tennis teams. Juniors Matt Kessler and Jacob Morris were named to the #1 doubles All-ODAC Second Team.
Kessler, from Mount Airy, NC, receives his second All-ODAC nod in his RC tennis career. In 2013 after his freshman year, Kessler was named to the #1 doubles All-ODAC Third Team. Morris, from Jamestown, RI, gets his first All-ODAC honor after a successful doubles season with Kessler.
The junior duo played in 15 total matches together where they achieved a 10-5 record and were 6-2 in conference where they played a majority of their matches in the #1 doubles spot. Their two most impressive wins of the season came against Wilkes College and Washington and Lee, where both teams won their tournament in their respective conferences
Against Wilkes, the Middle Atlantic Freedom Conference champions, Kessler/Morris were the lone victory for the maroons in the 1-8 loss against the Colonels team that eventually boasted a 20-3 record. The maroons lost to eventual conference champion and rival Washington and Lee in a very close 4-5 defeat. Kessler/Morris had a huge #1 doubles victory against W&L's team that made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
As far as their individual matches go, Kessler played in the #2 spot for the maroons where he held a 7-7 record and was 4-3 in conference. Morris played mostly in the #3 spot for the maroons where he also had a 7-7 record and finished 5-3 in conference.
