By Reed Cassell Essex
essexxre@grinnell.edu

Last weekend, the Grinnell College tennis team went to compete in regionals, against teams in the middle and upper Midwest. Jose Coloma ’19  described it as a “fun weekend.” Coloma, a second year tennis player at Grinnell, got furthest in this tournament on the College’s team and made it to the quarter finals.

Coloma did not initially think he would be able to play, due to an ongoing shoulder injury, but he was happy that he felt good enough to play. He lost to Carthage, but he was very proud of the way he played, and how his teammates played throughout the tournament.

“The team in general had some pretty tough matches,” said Coloma “but everyone gave their best, and I was pretty proud of them actually. Everyone was cheering for me when I was the only one still playing, so it was fun.”

Coloma may have made it the farthest, but both Tommy Pitcher ’17, and Cole Miller ’17 made it to the round of 32, with Coloma and Pitcher getting to the quarterfinals for doubles together.

“For me personally, that was my best performance ever,” said Pitcher about the tournament, “I think one of my favorite things [about it] is that we were 14 players, which was a lot more than most teams, so it was really fun to see everyone play and compete really hard.”

Pitcher, a fourth year, remarked that one of the reasons he would come back to the College after graduation would be to see the tennis team. Currently, the team is composed of four fourth years, one third year, six second years, and nine first years.

“It can be strenuous at times … but it’s nice to know that the team will be in good hands,” said Pitcher, and he did include that he is very pleased with the performance of the team as a whole.

The tournament last weekend wrapped up the tennis season for the team, but they will pick up their next season in the spring without their fourth years.

“[Next semester] we’ll be playing two matches a week,” Coloma said about the spring season. “[We will play] on Saturdays and Sundays against specific colleges, and their [opposing colleges’] team meets, so whoever gets five out of nine matches wins the meet. So that’s pretty exciting because it’s like a team tournament instead of an individual, you play with your whole team.”

Both Coloma and Pitcher seem very excited for next semester, and very pleased with how they did and how their teams did, and seem much more focused on the next semester goals for tennis than their own personal victories. Although it’s the end of the semester, they will keep practicing in loose schedules to stay in shape for next semester. They are excited to start the spring season and to continue playing as a team in tournaments together.