Fujitani Sets New Career Singles Record in 9-0 Sweep Over E-Town
Senior Midori Fujitani (Tokyo, Japan) set a new Goucher College record for singles wins in a 9-0 sweep of the Elizabethtown Blue Jays on Saturday.
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Senior Midori Fujitani (Tokyo, Japan) set a new Goucher College record for singles wins in a 9-0 sweep of the Elizabethtown Blue Jays on Saturday.
When Fujitani stepped onto campus in the fall of 2013, the Goucher College men's tennis career singles win record was in the hands of 2001 graduate, Tim Hannigan, who won 59 singles matches in his four years at Goucher. However, 2016 graduate, Seth Hoesman, surpassed the record last season during the Landmark Conference semifinal match against Scranton, and added one more win during the finals match to reach 61 singles wins in his career.
At that point, Fujitani stood at 48 singles wins in his career – and little did he know, almost a year later, he would be overtaking the career singles wins crown from his former teammate with his 62nd career win for the blue and gold.
Returning to Saturday's match against Elizabethtown, the Tokyo, Japan native made quick work of his opponent, 6-1, 6-0, securing the ninth point and third consecutive sweep for the Gophers.
Over the course of the 2017 season, Fujitani has gone 13-3 in singles play, including wins from No. 3 to No. 6 singles. In addition to his most recent record breaking performance, he earned the team doubles wins record earlier this year with teammate Jack Hodges (London, England), combining for 32 wins as a team.
Even further, Fujitani sits only three singles wins away from tying the Landmark Conference career singles wins record, currently held by Juniata's Bryan Gregory, who set the record last year with his 65th career singles win.
In addition to Fujitani breaking the program record, the Gophers handled the Blue Jays in every aspect, dropping only one set overall.
Freshman Mike Herman (Prague, Czech Republic) stepped into a new role on Saturday, taking his first crack at No. 1 singles play. He took down Alex Machalick 6-0, 3-6, 6-1. The rest of the Goucher lineup dropped only 14 games in six flights on their way to a 9-0 rout of the Blue Jays.
How It Happened:
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Doubles competition |
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1. Michael Herman/Jack Hodges (GOUM) def. Connor Martin/Tyler Spinello (ETOWN) 8-4 |
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2. Elliot Diehl/Frankie Mullinix (GOUM) def. Alex Machalick/Nate Dowling (ETOWN) 8-4 |
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3. Slade Dumas/Midori Fujitani (GOUM) def. Matt Hornbaker/Nick Strobel (ETOWN) 8-1 |
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Singles competition |
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1. Michael Herman (GOUM) def. Alex Machalick (ETOWN) 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 |
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2. Jack Hodges (GOUM) def. Connor Martin (ETOWN) 6-1, 6-0 |
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3. Frankie Mullinix (GOUM) def. Matt Hornbaker (ETOWN) 6-4, 6-4 |
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4. Elliot Diehl (GOUM) def. Tyler Spinello (ETOWN) 6-0, 6-3 |
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5. Slade Dumas (GOUM) def. Nate Dowling (ETOWN) 6-1, 6-0 |
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6. Midori Fujitani (GOUM) def. Nick Strobel (ETOWN) 6-1, 6-0 |
Up Next:
The Gophers are back in action tomorrow when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa. to take on the Greyhounds from Moravian College at 10 a.m.