St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s tennis programs opened their 2026-27 dual-match seasons Saturday at The Catholic University of America, with the women’s team falling in a tight 4-3 decision and the men’s team dropping a 7-0 non-conference match.
Women’s tennis (0-1)
Catholic (1-2) opened with a 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles before junior Lily Spedden and sophomore Addyson Harden — a Lexington Park native and Great Mills High School product — answered with a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles. Sophomore Lily Ganjbaksh and Katherine Yao clinched the doubles point for St. Mary’s with a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles.
Catholic tied the match with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles before the Seahawks took back-to-back points. Junior Sarah Levit won 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 singles, and Ganjbaksh capped a two-match sweep of her own with a gritty 6-1, 7-6 (3) win at No. 1 singles. Catholic closed out the match with wins at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles, though junior captain Stella Manns took her No. 6 singles match to a super tiebreaker before falling 5-7, 6-4, 5-10.
The loss opens the season 0-1 for a St. Mary’s program that closed last spring with a perfect 8-0 United East Conference record and a conference sweep to finish the regular season undefeated.
Men’s tennis (0-1)
Catholic (2-1) claimed the doubles point outright, winning 6-1 at No. 3 doubles and 6-2 at No. 2 doubles before juniors Alex Lyman and Jacob Nelson picked up a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles to avoid a doubles sweep. Catholic then swept all six singles matches in straight sets. Lyman, Oliver Emard and sophomore Nate Willoughby each pushed their opponents to six or more games; Lyman (No. 3 singles) and Emard (No. 5 singles) both fell 3-6, 3-6, while Willoughby dropped a close battle at No. 6 singles, 3-6, 6-7 (4).
Both St. Mary’s tennis programs next head to the ITA Southeast Regionals at Battleground Athletic Complex in Fredericksburg, Virginia — the women’s team competes Sept. 25-28, and the men’s team follows Oct. 1-4.
