7: matches won by the Baker men’s and women’s tennis teams against Louisiana College

4: number of combined match wins for the men’s and women’s tennis teams

35: days until the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Tournament

During spring break the Baker University men’s and women’s tennis teams traveled to Louisiana to compete against Louisiana College and Loyola University New Orleans.

The Wildcats came away with a 1-1 record after both teams earned 7-2 wins against Louisiana College March 10.

“I thought that we played really well over spring break,” head coach Joe Ahmadian said. “Our first match we kind of took care of business, but this whole trip we had incomplete lineups.”

The ‘Cats traveled with only five members from each team and were forced to forfeit two sets during each match. These forfeits handed the teams their only losses against Louisiana College.

It was a similar story during BU’s loss to Loyola University. The women’s team won four sets and lost only three. However, the pair of forfeits forced the ‘Cats to drop the match.

“Even though we lost that second match we really look at it as a win,” Ahmadian said. “We are just trying to carry that momentum into the rest of the season.”

The men were able to carry that momentum to Monday’s matchup against Kansas Wesleyan University, where they came away with a 9-0 win.

“That was not an easy match by any means,” Ahmadian said. “(A 9-0 win) makes it seem lopsided, but they were very competitive. Our guys showed up to play and just took care of business.”

During the ‘Cats second match of the day, the team fell to McPherson College 8-1. The lone win came from freshman Ryan Gleue, who defeated his opponent in three sets.

Ahmadian said he was impressed with Ryan’s performance and that he is “improving faster than any player on either team.”

“(Ryan) wasn’t even in the playing lineup at the beginning of the year,” Ahmadian said. “But he’s cracked the top six and (Monday) he got our only win for us.”

The women’s team also competed Monday against Kansas Wesleyan but fell to the Coyotes 5-0.

The teams were also in action Tuesday against William Jewell College at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence, but lost 9-0.

Although the men’s team has dropped its last two matches, senior Casey Gleue said BU has seen progress during the season.

“I think we are getting better every match,” Casey said. “It is a very young team. I am the only senior in the lineup, and we have one junior, one sophomore and the rest are freshmen. So every match is definitely an improvement.”

Sophomore Caitlyn Metseff said the women’s team is improving as well and will look to be competitive at the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament April 27.

“I think we are doing pretty well,” Metseff said. “We already have a better record than we did last year, so we are growing as a program.”

On Saturday the men play Tabor College and Missouri Baptist University in Hillsboro and the women play at the Laury Tennis Courts against Missouri Baptist.