Bulldogs fall to WPI 30-7 in their first match on the young season

Smithfield, R.I.- The injury riddled Bulldogs hobbled into WPI with a lot of heart, but in the end, came up short losing their season opener 7-30.

 Player-coach, Sameer Sangal, decided to rest a few of his top players who are dealing with minor injuries. This allowed him to play some of the younger players, which gave them the opportunity to get valuable match experience early in the year.

The match may go down as a loss in the books, but the experience and chemistry gained was well worth it for the Bulldogs who are loaded with young talent. Sameer had the following to say after the match: “It’s always tough to lose like that, but it was really helpful to see who works well together. We now know what we have to focus on in practice, and I am 100% confident that our guys will bounce back.”

 Details from the match below:

Men’s singles: Junior James Heydn took on WPI’s number one singles player, and lost in a heartbreaker 4-6. James went down early 0-3, and battled back to tie the score at 3-3. The last four games all went to deuce, and a few balls sailed out that costed him the match.

Men’s Doubles: Sophomore duo Tom Lee and Lucas Keller played their first ever match together. They lost to the WPI team 3-6. They played with a lot of heart and energy, but in the end made a few too many unforced errors. After the match Tom had the following to say: “When you lose, you either are beaten, or you beat yourself. Today we beat ourselves with all the unforced errors”. The duo looks to bounce back this next weekend verse UCONN.

Girls Singles: Freshman Madison Ballou played her first match as a Bulldog, against a girl who previously played for WPI’s varsity team. She played a gutty match, with all her heart till the last point, but fell ultimately lost the match (0-6). She showcased a lot of potential, as she demonstrated great depth on her groundstrokes, and the ability to chase balls around all over the court. Coach Sameer believes Madison is one of the better athletes on the team and has an extremely high ceiling.

Girls Doubles: Freshman duo Katherine Castillo and Mia Broderick played their first ever match together falling to WPI 0-6. Communication errors as well as volley errors is what the match ultimately came down to. They showed they are both talented players with high potential, but it was also evident that it was their first together. The skilled duo looks to build their team chemistry as the year goes.

Mixed Doubles: Player coach Sameer Sengal and Freshman Madison Ballou fell to WPI’s mixed doubles team 0-6. They played an extremely tough team, but Sameer was disappointed in his performance, and believes they could’ve won the match if they eliminated many unforced errors.

The Bulldogs look to bounce back this weekend as they take on UCONN and Northeastern here on the Bryant tennis courts.