For the second straight year, the Grinnell College men’s and women’s tennis teams are headed to the NCAA Division III team championships. The Pioneer men open play Friday at Washington University in St. Louis against Westminster of Fulton, Missouri.
The Pioneer men come off their fifth straight midwest conference championship, sixth in the last seven years, and 11th in school history…Grinnell faced Westminster in the first round last year.
Coach Andy Hamilton says the road gets tougher should the Pioneers win their first round match-up and first NCAA victory. The Pioneer women’s played a shortened spring season after winning their conference title last fall. Hamilton’s women’s team hasn’t had a match nearly two weeks, and says even if they had wanted to play a match, there weren’t many schools available to play.
Hamilton says sometimes being well rested is the best thing, and that’s the path he chose. The women’s tennis team head to St Peter, Minnesota for a first round match-up against Coe on Thursday. The winner of the Grinnell vs. Coe match takes on Wheaton College of Illinois Friday morning.