Both the men and women's tennis squads recorded disappointing results this past week in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Traveling to battle Maine state rival Bowdoin College before making the journey down to Vermont to faceoff against top-ranked Middlebury College, the teams were unable to find their stride. Although the men lost 8-1 and 9-0, respectively, and the women lost 8-1 and 7-0, respectively, neither team is discouraged, and both look forward to closing out their seasons strongly in the coming weeks.

In their match against Bowdoin on April 15, Colby's men put up a good fight but were ultimately overpowered by the unrelenting Polar Bear assault. Generating the only victory for the Mules was first-year Dan Freeman, who defeated his opponent at second singles by a score of 7-6 (5), 6-2. On the losing end of several other close matches, it appears that a win was not in the cards for the Mules. Unfortunately, the Colby men had little time to recover before being thrown back into play against Middlebury. Dropping all of their matches to the steadfast Panthers, the Mules were unable to come up with any wins. Battling against the ITA Men's New England Regional champions Andrew Lee and Andrew Thomson, Colby doubles pair Tommy Kimball and Phil Zunshine put up a valiant effort, losing by a score of just 8-4.

On the women's side, a similar story unfolded. Also tallying only one victory against the Bowdoin Polar Bears, women's team member Kathryn Vergeyle '12 defeated opponent Hannah Hoerner at sixth singles by a score of 6-4, 6-2. Although Katie Muno and Caroline Reaves battled fiercely for a win at first doubles, their efforts weren't powerful enough, leading the duo to an 8-6 loss.

Coming out with enthusiasm, the Colby women showed their talent even in their loss to Middlebury. Co-Captain Tara Davidson '10 won her match at fifth singles by a score of 7-6 (3), 6-3, and Vergeyle found victory at sixth singles, once again, by easily defeating her challenger 6-1, 6-0. Finishing out their seasons by the beginning of May, both teams have tough NESCAC matches in the home stretch. While the women are set to play Connecticut College and Williams College, the men are scheduled for a game against Tufts University in addition to their contests against Conn. College and Williams. Looking to grab more of the seemingly elusive NESCAC wins, the teams thoroughly prepare for these last matches.