The NWC tennis courts saw some excitement last Thursday, Sept. 23 when both the men’s and women’s tennis teams took the court together in their second annual intrasquad meet.
This special match lasted about an hour and a half and featured two brackets, an A bracket and a B bracket made up eight doubles teams consisting of one male and one female tennis athlete. The winners of each bracket worked their way through two matches ending with two pairs victorious.
Sophomore Brailey DeLaO and junior Brian VandenBurg, won the A bracket, while the victors of the B bracket were a team of three made up of Junior Jessica Wilson, freshman Ryan Mitchell and junior Nick Van Rijs.
The winners of each bracket were awarded a Pez candy dispense and bragging rights to use until next year’s competition.
Van Rijs, a member of the winning B bracket doubles team added, “I’m proud of my doubles team. Especially Slizzy (Ryan Mitchell). He carried us to victory, and everyone bonded over the Pez.”
Less competition and more fun, this meet allowed for each team to come together around the sport they love. It also allowed for some comradery between two teams of the same sport.
VandenBurg, a member of the winning A bracket doubles team and a second-time victor of this meet was delighted by his and DeLaO’s performance and what this match meant to him, “I’m proud of what Brailey and I did on the court last Thursday. This meet has been a nice opportunity to connect with the women’s team, enjoy the sport of tennis and represent Raider athletics.”
The women’s tennis team, coached by Jaime De Jong, started their season at Buena Vista with a 7-2 win. Their next match is home at 3:45 p.m. against Iowa Central Community College.
As for the men’s team, led by Monte Tilgner, they have a 2-0-win streak. Their next match will be home against Mount Marty starting at 6 p.m.
