Bethel men's tennis defeats McPherson for the first time since 2010.
The Threshers picked up this 4-3 win on April 12th and haven't stopped there.
The men’s tennis team won on April 12 against McPherson for the first time since 2010, ending the 15 year domination by the Bulldogs.
Some history behind the match: The last win the Threshers had was in 2010 with a score of 5-4. After that, McPherson went on a dominant run, with the closest match for the Threshers being a loss in 2014, with a score of 4-5. Even more of a reason for the Threshers to come in a fight with grit and intensity.
Starting off with the doubles point, the team of Menard/Haoda seemed to easily get the #3 doubles win 6-3. After that, the #1 doubles team of Zihar/Kollar got taken out 5-7 in a tight match. Lastly, to end the doubles point, the #2 doubles team of Bergeron/Batista lost 5-7 in another close doubles point to give McPherson the 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
In singles, it started off rough, getting beat 1-3, forcing the Threshers to make the comeback. Batista lost at #1 singles 5-7, 3-6. Kollar won #2 singles with a score of 6-3, 6-4. Zihar lost the #3 singles matches with a score of 2-6, 2-6. This made the dual score 1-3 going into the back half of singles.
In the back half of singles, #4 was played by Haoda, who took the match 6-2, 6-3 making the dual score 2-3. At the #5 singles spot, Sanchez made a comeback in the second set to win 6-2, 7-6(2), making the dual score all tied up at 3-3.
“Coming into it, we knew it was going to be a big match, so it was electric that we got the job done,” said freshman Billy Haoda from Cairns, Australia. “[It’s been] 15 years since we last beat McPherson so it only made it more special. This is what college sports is all about.”
Since being tied up, the Threshers knew that history was relying on the #6 singles match, played by Jonah Bergeron. Bergeron has had his moments this year, whether they come at wins or losses. He will never forget this moment though, because he clinched for the Threshers with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, to give the Threshers their first win over McPerson since 2010, a 15 year drought.
“I think the team put on a great fight overall,” said Bergeron from Dorval, Quebec, Canada. “Everybody fought at every spot, and that's what I had the privilege of clinching. It felt amazing to take McPherson down for the first time in 15 years. I’m very excited for this team to fight for a ring this year.”
“It was a great win for our guys,” said head coach Gabe Johnson. “They have worked hard this year to commit to the idea of everyone battling their hardest at each position, and trusting that will give us the best chance to win matches. Petr [Kollar] picked up a huge win, and Billy [Haoda], Rod [Sanchez], and Jonah [Bergeron] at 4, 5, and 6, knew their job was to focus on fighting as hard as they could. The whole team stayed committed, and they got the win.”
Both the men and women’s tennis teams competed then on senior day on April 18th against Friends. The men picked up a 6-1 win while the women won 5-2. This solidifies an 11-1 season for both teams and gives them both the #2 seed for the conference tournament starting next week.
The men will play the #7 seed on Wednesday, April 23 in Lindsborg while the women will play the #7 seed on Thursday, April 24 in Lindsborg. The matchups have not been released yet.