Sunny, Florida-esque conditions on Saturday, April 4 proved beneficial to the visiting Sailfish of Palm Beach Atlantic as they blanked the Colorado College Tigers 9-0. The Tigers put up an admirable fight against the D-II university, located in Palm Beach, Florida.
The match began with a clean sweep in doubles by the Sailfish, winning all three matches. They continued their success in singles, winning all six matches in straight sets.
Jason Gutierrez was downed 7-5, 6-0, at No. 1 singles and Jack Burger was defeated 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.
“Jason played a smart match and had some chances to take the first set,” CC Head Coach Anthony Weber said. “However, his opponent was more consistent and got the best of him.”
Taylor Delehanty gave his match his all before falling 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5 Singles.
When behind in a match, Delehanty said he focuses on resilience and changing things up if they aren’t working. “Wins would be good, but overall our team goals would just be to take what we work on in practice and apply it on the court,” said Delehanty. “We need to focus on getting into the match mindset and just playing our game instead of worrying about it.”
The team’s next match is on Sunday, April 12 at Metro State College in Denver beginning at 10 a.m.
Both Palm Beach Atlantic University and Metropolitan State University are Division II schools, posing a serious challenge to the D-III Tigers. “It’s basically like running at altitude then running at sea level,” said Delehanty on playing D-2 schools. “You practice in harder environments to make playing in normal environments seem easy.” The Tigers will look to capitalize on lessons learned in their tough non-conference schedule at the SCAC Championships April 24 and 25 in Georgetown, TX.
To catch some of the men’s and women’s teams in action (and probably in costume), come to the campus-wide Mixed Doubles Tournament today at 4.