Photo from MV Cyclones
By Layal Zaidal, Staff Writer
Thursday 3:00 pm. April 17. Forecasts previously warned of steady rain throughout the night. The sky was dark and overcast with a thick blanket of gray storm clouds. The wind whipped a sharp chill across the tennis courts, leaving media personnel and spectators shivering while bundled up in their sweaters, sheltering under umbrellas. Nonetheless, the players came onto the court in their tennis shorts and t-shirts, some wearing sweaters. A series of singles and doubles was expected to be completed today and both teams had finished warming up.
Courts 1 through 3 were loaded with doubles while a singles match started on Court 4. The games began as the wind picked up simultaneously, resulting in matches riddled with faults and missed volleys. A slight sprinkle added to the players’ struggles to maintain a rally in the steadily worsening weather. The Cyclones lost the first doubles match in court 1 as courts 2 and 3 strained to maintain a lead. The rain continued as the Cyclones lost in Court 2. Meanwhile, the pair in Court 3 pressed on in the worsening weather conditions, chasing the ball down to prevent the Lancers from scoring any further. Meanwhile, the singles match stalled in a constant back-and-forth of deuces; neither player was able to score the final point and decisively win. The wind soon hurled the ball unpredictably while the rain slicked the courts to the point of being dangerous. MV players slipped or hesitated as they chased low shots, resulting in more points for the Lancers.
Finally, with conditions too treacherous to ignore, the coaches called a timeout. The teams will wait out this storm in the gym with the hope of continuing with scheduled singles matches. With both teams drying off in the lobby, the coaches called their local connections. One quipped the wind “may be able to dry it [the courts] up if the rain stops soon.”
Upon interview, the players commented on their frustration with today’s turn of events. One player commented “The wind just took the ball wherever it wanted,” while another, the player in the singles match, chimed in, stating he faced a similar problem. “I definitely would’ve had him,” he said, “but I choked at the end.” Thirty minutes passed with no word on whether the game would be canceled or moved.
Eventually, the skies cleared just enough to resume play. Despite the teams’ efforts to regain momentum, the effects of the earlier downpour lingered — on both the courts and the players’ focus. The Cyclones struggled to find their footing after the long delay and a shaky start. The remainder of the singles matches proceeded under cloudy skies, but the early setbacks proved difficult to overcome. By day’s end, the Lancers secured a dominant 8–1 victory. The Cyclones’ lone win came from Jaykumar Patel in a hard-fought singles match. Though the result was disappointing, the Cyclones walked away with valuable experience. The chaotic conditions tested their adaptability and resilience — reminders that in sports, as in life, not everything goes according to plan.
