MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny men's and women's tennis teams both received exciting news Friday morning, as the new ITA regional rankings were released. The women's team, which has been ranked No. 25 for much of the season, moved up four spots in the central region to the No. 21 spot. While on the men's side, Patrick Cole has skyrocketed to become the No. 14 singles player in the central region. The women's team climbed up the rankings with wins over No. 24 Kalamazoo and No. 22 Wisconsin-Eau Claire over the past month. The Gators currently sit at 7-7 on the season, playing one of the toughest schedules in the region. Along with Kalamazoo and UW-Eau Claire, Allegheny has also played No. 5 Carleton, No. 10 Case Western, No. 17 Hope, No. 20 Albion, and has matches scheduled with No. 16 Kenyon and No. 11 Oberlin.
For the men, Cole has been a force to be reckoned with all season long in the number one singles hole. He has played well all season long, but has really turned up the intensity over the past month. During the Gators spring trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina, Cole defeated No. 22 Chris Kuna of UW-Eau Claire and No. 10 Brian McCarthy of St. Thomas in convincing fashion.
Cole never allowed Kuna to get into the match, beating him 6-1, 6-0. McCarthy had a little more success, but not nearly enough to contend as Cole dismissed him 6-4, 6-1.
Cole was scheduled to take on No. 24 Andrew Hwang of Carleton; however, that match was not to be as Carleton decided to keep Hwang out of singles competition. They would face off in doubles play though, as Cole and partner Kevin Kacer defeated the No. 15 doubles pairing of Hwang and Dan Vollman.
The No. 14 ranking is believed to be the highest for any singles player in Allegheny history. Cole and the rest of the Gators will be back in action Friday night, as they travel to Greenville, Pa. to take on the Tomcats of Thiel College. The women will be in action Saturday afternoon, when they will host NCAC East rival Wooster at 2:00 pm.
