Fayetteville, N.C. The Monarchs opened the men's & women's tennis spring 2026 season on Saturday hosting fellow NCAA DIII opponent Covenant College. After a delay due to inclement weather, Methodist came out of the gate strong with the women sweeping all three doubles matches.
The men's team captured No. 3 doubles 6-1 to lead the scoring behind the efforts of
Kofi Bowe (Sr., Bahamas) and
Billy Johnson (Fr., England). The Scots evened the score, capturing the No. 1 doubles line 6-2. However, the experienced team of
Matthew Hurley (Sr., Australia) and
Decklan Rayner (Jr., Australia) gave the Monarchs the edge and the doubles point with a 6-4 victory at No. 2 doubles.
The women's team continued their dominant performance by capturing five of the six singles matches. Monarch No. 1
Emma Hulicki (Jr., Raleigh, N.C.) lost 6-3, 6-3, but
Helen Hofmann (Fr., Germany),
Caitlin Tihanovich (Jr., Tampa, Fla.),
Addison Haden (Fr., Charlotte, N.C.),
Shea Bieniek (Fr., Fayetteville, N.C.) and
Wilette Rivera Morales (Jr., Kernersville, N.C.) each won their matches in straight sets to give the Monarchs a 6-1 team victory.
In the men's match, Covenant tied the match score after capturing No. 2 singles in straight sets as
Harry Crokam (Jr., Australia) lost 6-3, 6-0. The Monarchs went up 3-1 with victories by
Aaron Zoubek (Fr., Zimmerman, Minn.) at No. 3 singles and Rayner at No. 4 singles.
The Scots closed out the victory with three split-set victories at No. 1 singles over #37 ranked Hurley, No. 5 singles over Johnson and No. 6 singles over
Christian Tihanovich (Jr., Tampa, Fla.) as the Monarchs fell 4-3. Johnson and Tihanovich each lost 11-9 in the final set match tiebreaker.
"This was a good opening for the season," said head men's coach
Scott Handback, who is also filling in for head women's coach
Alicia Barto during her leave this semester. "The women's team showed up and competed really well. Although we lost a heartbreaker on the men's side, this will help us to develop the toughness we will need later in the season. We had numerous opportunities to win the team match and it could have gone either way. I am excited about the upcoming season. Both teams should take lessons away from this weekend."
The Monarchs will host Guilford College on Sunday starting at noon for their second match in two days.
