Xavier tennis excels in conference

The Xavier men's and women's tennis teams have begun Atlantic 10 play in a strong fashion.
The men's team started its conference
play this past weekend and picked up back-to-back wins.
By defeating Saint Joseph's University (7-0) and Temple University (5-2), the men have pushed their season record to 7-8 overall and 2-0 in conference.
The women improved their A-10 record to 3-1 this weekend. Despite falling to Temple (6-1) on Saturday, the women's team notched a victory on Friday over Saint Joseph's (5-1). Their record for the season now stands at 10-4.
The men's team began the weekend with a dominating performance
over Saint Joeseph's.
The Musketeers blanked the Hawks, picking up the doubles point early and scoring the rest of the points via singles victories.
Sophomores Jimmy Roebker and Mesa Mei defeated the Hawks' No. 1 doubles team then turned around and picked up a No. 1 and No. 2 singles win, respectively.
Junior Brandon MacDonald, freshman Michael Moe and freshman
Freddy Abunku each defeated
their opponent in singles play to secure the Musketeer victory.
The Musketeers returned to the courts on Saturday to best Temple for their second straight win.
The men dropped the doubles point but rallied in the singles matches. Roebker and Mei defeated
their No. 1 and No. 2 opponents
while senior Marc Pretorius picked up a No. 6 singles win.
"For the first weekend of A-10 competition, we did everything we wanted to do," head coach Eric Toth said. "There is a lot of tennis though left on our schedule, both in conference and out, where we will need to keep making progress in a positive way to be where we want to be in a month."
On the women's side, the Musketeers sealed their eighth consecutive victory on Friday by besting the Hawks.
The win marked the third straight conference win for the women.
Freshman Daniella Patton won her first No. 1 singles match while sophomore Andrea Wolf picked up a No. 2 singles victory.
Rounding out the singles victories were freshman Lizzie Oosterbaan, sophomore Ally Westline and junior Natalie Handler.
On Saturday, the women's team lost their first match in over a month, falling to Temple.
Xavier picked up the doubles point.
Westing and junior Kally Alkire earned a victory in the No. 11 doubles while Wolf and Patton secured the doubles point with a victory in the No. 2 match.
The men return to the court today to host Northern Kentucky University.
The women will travel to the University of Louisville on Friday for a non-conference match.