Volume CXXXII, Number 5 October 18, 2002 f

Serve it up, Bears!
PHIL FRIEDRICH
STAFF WRITER

With five months remaining until the start of the spring season, the Bowdoin Men's Tennis team dominated their final fall tune-up tournament, winning all four singles brackets at the Wallach Invitational hosted by Bates College on October 5.

Pat Soong '04 unleashes his energy in the service. (Evan Kohn, Bowdoin Orient)

Leaving little doubt as to who the team to beat was, Bowdoin placed seven of eight potential singles finalists, with the lone non-Bowdoin spot going to Bates' Brett Carty. Doubles action saw Bowdoin place a team in both the "A" and "B" bracket finals.

In what was the first of three all-Bowdoin final matches, Mac Burke '05 defeated teammate Colin Joyner '03 6-2, 7-5 to capture the "A" flight championship.

August Felker '03 made easy work of Bates' Brett Carty in the "B" flight finals, strolling to a 6-0, 6-2 championship victory.

In yet another all-Bowdoin final, Nick McLean '03 downed John Posey '04 6-2, 6-2 to earn the "C" flight championship.

The final and most grueling match of the day saw Bowdoin's Pat Soong '04 defeat Barrett Lawson '05 1-6, 7-5 (10-6) for the "D" flight championship.

The doubles teams of Burke/Felker and Soong/Pat Keneally '05 each reached the finals of their respective doubles brackets, only to fall in the championships. Burke and Felker were ousted in the "A" bracket finals, while Soong and Keneally suffered a 9-7 defeat in the "B" bracket finals.

While the Wallach Invitational was the final fall tournament for the team, an eighth place ranking in the most recent national polls has earned the Polar Bears a spot in an annual indoor tournament to be held at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota.

"This will give us the chance to play the best teams in Division III and show where we stand at the beginning of the spring season," said Joyner.

The tournament, scheduled for the end of February, will host the top eight Division III teams from around the nation.

Joyner added, "We wrapped up the fall with a lot of success at the Bates Tournament and now our focus turns to a long winter that will take us to Minnesota and the start of the spring season."