Men’s tennis rallies under interim head coach

Absence of new head coach won't stop the team from trying to salvage season

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Mickey Schindler ‘18 headlines the Mules’ sweep of Gettysburg on Senior Day. As the lone senior, Schindler is the team’s main source of leadership. Photo courtesy of Muhlenberg Athletics

Sometimes, a team’s record in the standings doesn’t always tell the whole story of a season.

Despite a 3-12 record during its 2018 season, the Muhlenberg men’s tennis team has performed very well recently, even with the absence of its head coach. After starting the spring season losing 12 of its first 13 scoring matchups, the team has rebounded strongly by winning consecutive contests for the first time all year.

These victories have been under the leadership of Angela Jones, interim head coach. A 9-0 victory over Moravian was followed just a few days later by yet another 9-0 shutout win over Gettysburg. In a time of such adversity, it is remarkable that the team has rallied in the past few weeks to perform so well.

Within conference play, the team currently places eighth of 10 teams in the Centennial Conference, but there is hope for the remainder of the season. Adding context, the Mules do play in one of the more competitive conferences in the nation. There are two teams nationally ranked in the NCAA top 25 by the International Tennis Association, and four teams ranked in the top 20 teams of the Atlantic South region (the region that Muhlenberg is a part of).

Steven Shoemaker ‘19 has been a three-year member of the varsity tennis team and is optimistic about the team’s outlook for the rest of the spring.

“The men’s tennis team has performed very well recently. Just because our record over the last 10 matches (2-8) does not portray that, we have still been working very hard both on and off the court. We have been faced with a lot of adversity this year, recently losing our head coach and having our captain Mickey Schindler trying his best to lead the way,” said Shoemaker. “Despite our struggles, we have managed to stay focused and swept our two most recent matches against Moravian and Gettysburg. The team is excited to finish the year strong and to send Mickey off on a high note.”

In its latest matchup, the dominant win over Gettysburg, Schindler was honored for his time on the team at Muhlenberg. After the pregame festivities, the senior from Brooklyn, NY had a very impressive performance. On the day, he won both his singles and doubles match, which pushed his total number career of victories on the Mule tennis team to 61. As the only senior on this year’s team, Schindler’s excellent performance on the courts has been a prime reason behind the recent Muhlenberg resurgence.

The men’s tennis team continues its season and looks to move to a three-game win streak when it faces Wilkes College on Saturday in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

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