-SPORTS Men's tennis team nrapsns I The Backstop WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM for ODAC tournament By MacKeyizie Perkins Staff Writer On April 14, the Guilford men's tennis team walked away victorious from their match against Roanoke College with a final score of 5-4. It was the first time anyone currently on the team could remember beating Roanoke. The victory in the match against Roanoke raised Guilford's Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) ranking from the number six position to number five. Prior to the game, Roanoke was ranked third place in the ODAC. "The general feeling today was that we were playing the number three team and we probably won't win, but we did win," said the men's tennis coach Art Tourez. "So now, the guys know. They got their confidence now." Guilford first-year Andre Arguimbau defeated Roanoke's Matt Nadolny 6-3, winning the singles match that "closed out the points" as he put it, meaning that it decided Guilford's overall win. "But the standard was set in the doubles match," Arguimbau said, indicating that the resulting team win was a collective effort. For a team to win a tennis match the final score must add up to a total of nine points. Roanoke forfeited two points to Guilford before the game even began because they only brought five players with them to Greensboro. "Even so, it wasn't an easy win," said Arguimbau. With only five players, the Roanoke team was unable to compete in three doubles matches as is customary, so they only played two. Guilford's number one and two players, seniors Will Mason-Deese and Alec Chase, paired up against Roanoke's number one and two, Jon Roy and James Lee, and lost 5-8. The number three and four players of each team played on the adjacent court. In the second doubles match, Guilford's Arguimbau and first-year Mark Cheong defeated Roanoke's Matt Nadolny and Ralph Migliarese 8-4. Guilford also won tiieir two matches prior to the April 14 game. In the April 11 match against Randolph College, Guilford won 9-0 and in the April 10 match against Lynchburg College, Guilford won 6-3. The match against Roanoke was a critical one in determining the lineup of teams that will compete in the ODAC tournament. "We started (the season) against some really tough teams and had some difficult matches, and we're now getting into some conference matches where we have a reasonable likelihood of winning," said Tourez. The match against Roanoke put Guilford's total for the season at 4-3 with two more matches to go before the conference tournament. "If we win both (matches) we have a good chance to be fourth or fifth in the conference going into the tourna ment," said Tourez. "We have an excellent chance to win the first round in the conference and hopefully go on to the semis and do our best." Guilford has since played out those two remain ing matches. On Saturday, April 17, Guilford lost to Emory & Henry College 4-5, and on Sunday, April 18, Guilford defeated Randolph-Macon College 9-0, leaving the men's team 5-4 going into the tournament. Tourez expressed some of the goals he has for the men's tennis team in the ODAC tournament. "As a team I feel it's very important for us to, as a minimum, get to the second round," said Tourez. "We really don't want to go in one and done. We'd like to go in and say we didn't just make it to the conference, we made an impact on the conference." Aridro Arguirtihau 'T3 C O c 1“ o D > Z How growing up in Boston tortures me You know those shots you have to get when you are bom? I was born and raised in Boston, and I think they added a shot for me and all other Bostonian babies; ILTBRS — other wise known as "I Love The Boston Red Sox." The Sox play 162 games in a season. In 2009, the average Red Sox game lasted three hours and 12 minutes. That's over 500 hours of my time. Of course, I don't watch every game, especially since I don't have the Boston cable setup. But sitting in a chair for over three hours, watching pitch after pitch, foul ball after foul ball, out after out, can be worse than watching "Avatar" for the dialogue. But therein lies the beauty of baseball. You sit in a chair, sip an iced tea, watch pitch after pitch, feel the Red Sox drain your spring day happiness as they give up mns over a two and a half-hour period. They go down 5-3, and then, in the late innings, when you are cursing your upbringing, they spark a comeback. David "Big Papi" Ortiz caps off the come back with a bomb of a home run into an ocean of ecstatic Bostonians. That crack of a home mn off a wooden bat is more satisfying than a midday nap. And that's how baseball tortures you. You'll sit there and feel your blood curdle as the Red Siox slowly go down 5-3. It's the bottom of the ninth inning and the Sox have one out left or the game is over. They load up the bases so a hit could tie or even win the game. You rise to your feet even though you are alone in your gray-walled dorm room on a gorgeous spring night. Suddenly it hits you that your entire day hinges on whether the Sox win the game — you didn't plan your day like this. Then David Ortiz swings and misses for strike three. I've tried everything when it comes to baseball. I've tried quitting, but that proves impossible again and again — remember the shot Boston gave me? I've tried watching only when I know the game is dose or the Sox are winning, but that leads to either minimal satisfaction (apparently you need to be tortured by baseball for it to be rewarding), or a feeling of guilt if they lose. I feel the Sox lost because I started watch ing (baseball is superstitious by nature). The Red Sox went 86 years without winning a World Series until 2004. Some Bostonians never saw them win a title until the year tihey died. Imagine that satisfaction. Some people went through what I go through, on a daily basis and weren't fortunate enough to see the Sox ever mn a World Series. I still diink if they read this artide, they'd roll over in their graves.,,, That's enough to keep me watching ... I guess. iiiiililn»iiiR Compiled byWill Cloyd 5-4 - > Record of the men's tennis team in the ODAC going into the ODAC tourna ment. The Quakers beat Randolph- Macon 9-0 on April 18 to achieve the record as well as the fifth seed in the ODAC tourna ment. Saves made by senior goalie Alyzza-May Callahan in the women's lacrosse loss to Roanoke on April 17. Guilford lost the game 18-5 despite Callahan's efforts and two goals by hrst-year Emily Egan. 3rd Average fin ishing position] by the men's golf team in match play in their nine tournaments this season. Guilford had their best finish when they finished first in the Johnny Palmer/Old North State Invitational Feb. 22-23. Projected draft position for former Nebraska DT Ndamukong SuhinNFL draft expert ^ Mel Kiper's mock draft. Kiper predicts the St. Louis Rams will select Suh ahead of heralded QBs Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Jimmy Clausen in the draft which begins April 22.