The men’s tennis team had a busy couple of days against opponents from the Chicagoland area. The week started on a positive note as they picked up their fourth win of the season at home on Tuesday against Elmhurst College (10-2).

The two teams were tied 3-3 with only the first singles match left. The deciding victory came from first-year Vivek Venkataraman. He earned the win against Elmhurst’s Dan Faretta, who was 7-3 on the season. The match lasted three hard-fought sets before Venkataraman put Faretta away 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 with his teammates looking on.

First-year Stephane Levy and second-years Bradley Sniderman and Naupaul Singh also picked up singles victories in the third, fifth, and sixth positions, respectively. Levy and his partner, third year Andrew McKay, took the win in first doubles competition by a score of 8-6.

Levy’s big performance did not stop there. In action against Wheaton on Wednesday, Levy won in fourth position singles 6-3, 6-4, leaving him with a solid 9-4 record so far this season. The team dropped Wednesday’s match against the Thunder 5-2.

For the cerebral Levy, it’s all about keeping the mental edge.

“Indeed, tennis is a mental game where the ultimate arbitrator of success remains the strategic duel in which the opposing players engage,” Levy said.

Singh was victorious again in sixth singles 6-1, 6-1. His effort in doubles play with his partner Venkataraman helped earn an 8-2 win over Wheaton’s first-year combination of Jeff Darragh and Graham Johnson.

The team goes into this weekend with a 4-10 overall record. The numbers, however, do not reflect the team’s steady progress that led to their upset victory over Elmhurst.

“I strongly believe that our losing record belies the improvements that we have achieved,” Levy said.

The Maroons will travel south to Terre Haute, Indiana, to meet Centre and Rose-Hulman this Saturday, April 10. After Saturday’s competition the team will have a few days to rest from their busy schedule before resuming play on Wednesday against Olivet Nazarene University.

“I feel that we have a lot to look forward to in the final weeks of the season,” Levy said. “Our primary task at this point is to translate the improvements we have made during practice into match play.”