For the fourth consecutive season, the Holy Cross men\u2019s tennis team secured the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. Seeking the program\u2019s first national championship, the Saints advanced to round two of the NAIA Tournament in Mobile, Alabama, where they were swept 4-0 by Cumberlands.
The Saints finished the regular season ranked as the No. 9 team in the country with a 14-3 record. Their season got off to a rough start, as they dropped their first three games of the year. However, those matches came against very talented teams, including the No. 4 and No. 7 teams in the country, respectively. Holy Cross closed out its season with a 14-match win streak, dropping just one individual point across the final 10 matches of the year.
There were questions about Holy Cross\u2019 ability to perform amongst top teams in the country heading into this season. The team had graduated key seniors Ciaran McCarthy and Perry Gregg, the latter of whom joined Notre Dame\u2019s tennis team this season. However, head coach Eric Mahone said this forced the others on the team to take strides forward from last season.
\u201cTo be honest, it\u2019s forced them all to play better. If any of them had in their mind they could kind of take the day off because [Perry] was going to win, this year that\u2019s not the case, and so we\u2019re quite frankly achieving the highest we ever have,\u201d he said.
Mahone credited a few key players for helping this team take that step forward, including senior Matthew Jezyk, senior Hugh O\u2019Sullivan, senior Luca McManus and junior Oscar Wai.
Wai has been especially impressive this season with eight wins, one loss, and a tie across his singles matches. McManus and Jezyk have been a rock solid duo this season with an undefeated doubles record of eight wins and a tie. Those three have been the most instrumental in the team\u2019s success this season, allowing the Saints to remain one of the top teams in the country.
The Saints\u2019 run of dominant tennis continued through round one of the tournament. They earned a 4-0 win over Saint Mary, spearheaded by a dominant doubles performance from the tandem of O\u2019Sullivan and Wai. From there, Wai, McManus and freshman Diego Blanco Goytia all earned straight sets victories to clinch the team win. Although the season came to a close on Wednesday evening against Cumberlands, the three-month Holy Cross winning streak proved that the Saints are among the nation\u2019s best and most consistent NAIA tennis programs.<\/p>\n