After big ACC win, men's tennis takes on William & Mary

After matching last season's total for ACC victories with its first of the season Wednesday, the Terrapin men's tennis team will hit the road Sunday to one-up a challenge it couldn't top last year.

Just days after a 4-3 victory against Boston College, the No. 63 Terps (7-2, 1-2 ACC) will be looking for vengeance against No. 73 William & Mary after a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in Williamsburg, Va., last year.

Sophomore John Collins will be a focus after a stretch of strong play. Collins hung tough in two close sets against the Eagles (4-6, 0-2), beating Alex Skinner, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), in No. 2 singles, where he has seen tremendous results.

"John continues to improve," coach Kyle Spencer said. "He is a hard worker in practice. For him to win in the No. 2 spot is big for us. He was able to thrive in a really tough spot tonight."

The women's squad, meanwhile, will be in recovery mode entering this weekend. After falling short in an opportune chance at picking up their first ACC victory since 2007 against Virginia Tech, the No. 57 Terps (5-2, 0-2) will have a full schedule to help them move on. They host three games at home, starting with Columbia today and a doubleheader tomorrow featuring California (Pa.) and Delaware.

"Our kids just didn't perform well," coach Howard Joffe said about the loss to the Hokies (5-4, 1-1). "I will give them credit for making a match of it, but it wasn't enough. The girls are disappointed, but their goal is simply to perform better. I believe if we go about our business well, then that will be the key to bouncing back."

Individually, the Terps are still holding on to impressive streaks. Junior Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar is still undefeated in both singles and doubles, and sophomore Ana Belzunce is unbeaten in singles. Joffe, however, is much more concerned about the performance of the team as a whole.

"Those things are so unbelievably insignificant when it comes to winning tennis matches," he said. "What I'm more impressed with is how [Sanchez-Quintanar and Belzunce] are playing a little bit better every match that they play. It's no secret that we have strong players on this team, and it's not surprising that they're performing so well."

munson@umdbk.com