Young Marlin Squad Falls in Opener to W&L

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The spring season for the Virginia Wesleyan College men's tennis team got off to a rocky start on Friday, with the Marlins falling to the visiting No. 38-ranked Washington and Lee University by a score of 9-0. 

Washington and Lee, the unanimous preseason favorite to win capture the ODAC crown, proved too much for a young Marlin squad. With veteran leadership in the form of seniors Jordan Krasner and Will Bannister anchoring the top position for the Generals in doubles, as well as the top two positions respectively in singles, the Marlins fell into a 3-0 hole after doubles and were unable to recover. 

Still, head coach Marty Perry refused to call the result a failure. He told his team following that match that he, "was proud of the way we fought today.  It's a long season for us, there's a lot of time to learn from this, a lot of time to improve." 

Having lost seven of their top eight players from last year's regular season title winning side, Virginia Wesleyan will be heavily leaning on a host of young talent this season.  Sophomore transfer Paul Gladstone, formerly of the University of Florida, made his much awaited Marlin debut atop the singles line up today.  Freshmen Nick Gunther and Andreas Combos also appeared in their first career collegiate dual match.

The Marlins (0-1) will not have to wait long to acquire more experience in this young season with matches slated for Saturday at Salisbury University (4-0) and Sunday against Goucher College (3-0) at a neutral site.