Geneseo tennis ends season with matches against New Paltz and William Smith

Photo courtesy of Geneseo Knights

The Geneseo Knights wrapped up their spring season facing challenging competition, with a rain-shortened match against New Paltz followed by a tough road battle against William Smith that featured several hard-fought singles performances.

Last weekend, the Knights played their last two spring matches of the season. On Friday, the Knights went up against the SUNY New Paltz Hawks in Geneseo. Unfortunately, the match was cut short after only 20 minutes due to excessive rain on the courts. But on the positive side, most of the doubles teams were able to get a couple of games in before the dark clouds arrived. On Saturday, the Knights travelled to Geneva to face off against William Smith. The score ended at 0-7 with the Knights being unable to grab a single point. In the past five matches when Geneseo faced William Smith, they have gone 1-4. William Smith is also part of the Liberty League, a conference that Geneseo usually only faces during the spring season. 

Since the rain was still coming down strong going into Saturday afternoon, the Knights made their way to William Smith’s indoor courts for their noon match. Doubles were rocky for Geneseo. They were only able to pick up two games between all three of the doubles teams. First doubles junior Natalie Pipes and sophomore Joann Catalano had a final set score of 1-6. Second doubles duo sophomore Rachel Molloy and junior Samantha Rava shared the exact same score as the first doubles team. The third doubles team of freshmen Lauren Levitano and Ashleigh Fredriksen was unable to get a game and had a final score of 0-6.

 First singles Natalie Pipes was extremely competitive with her opponent. The set score of 2-6, 4-6 does not tell the whole story. Each point was a battle, and Pipes pushed her opponent to maximum frustration. At times, the rallies were over 12 shots long, with each ball hit with intense pace. 

Sophomore Joann Catalano was able to achieve the same feat with her respective opponent at fourth doubles. Her game went into three sets with a score of 0-6, 7-5, and then she lost in a close tiebreaker 5-10. 

At fifth singles, freshman Lauren Levitano was also able to pick up four games from her opponent. The score by the end of her match was 3-6, 1-6. Levitano’s forehand has improved exponentially over the past year, and it will be exciting to see what it looks like next season. 

Although third singles sophomore Rachel Molloy was unable to pick up a game, she is one of the players on the team who always displays maximum effort and plays her heart out. Freshman Ashleigh Fredriksen managed to pick up a game at sixth singles to make it a score of 1-6, 0-6. 

Even though the match did not turn out how the Knights anticipated, the spring season was a great chance for the Knights to face competitors they do not usually see. Out of conference play can come with a lot of challenges, but also a lot of benefits, since the opponents are always competitive. Even though this is the last match for the Knights, be sure to follow them next fall. They will likely be in close competition with the Hartwick Hawks, fighting for the Empire 8 championship for the third year in a row.