Talking Tennis

My name is Shane Donahue and I’m pleased to be the latest unrestricted free agent signee of GM Robin Deutsch’s Vassar Sports Information bureau.

I began my senior year competing for a starting spot on Vassar’s men’s tennis team and through the virtues of Student Employment, have found my way into the Sports Information Department as an embedded reporter covering tennis this fall. After a tennis match is over, and whether I have played or not, my work-study job begins. But I love it!

Thus far, I’ve covered two dual matches against New York University and Stevens and the Middlebury Invitational. I’ve also written the weekly preview of weekend games, which I understand people actually read (first of three jokes in this blog).

My previous blogging experience tells me that a blog is a personal space to express opinions or perspectives. I intend to provide an inside look at our tennis team for the handful who are interested (second joke). Hooray computer-literate parents (third joke).

We beat Stevens last Saturday 6-3 and the Ducks were certainly better than previous years, as we ended up splitting the singles competition. The match was supposed to be played the previous Wednesday, but it was postponed. Unfortunately, I missed out at defending my crown at the Arlington Street Fair Chili Cook-off. But, I digress.

Allow me to first give props to some of my new teammates -- the diaper dandies Josh “Mr. Defense” Kessler, Andrew “The Goose” Guzick, Nick “Stretch” Jasso, and Kartik “Kar” Kappor. “Mr. Defense” teamed with Max Willner to pull out the W in a tiebreak at the No. 2 doubles spot over Sevens that was a real nail biter.

Josh’s exhibition singles match was all the more impressive. Down 4-1, he rattled off seven games to take the pro-set and then says matter-of-factly, “I planned it like that.” “The Goose” was loose and playing in front of a significant other so he dominated both at No. 1 dubs and No. 2 singles. “Stretch” and “Kar” handled their business quickly at No. 4 exhibition dubs, rolling to an 8-2 win.

That’s all for now. Oh, the men’s tennis has a friendly upcoming match against the Vassar Quidditch team. No joke.