The Exeter College Student Tennis Academy took part in the AEGON Senior Student National Finals in Bolton from Friday 14th – Sunday 16th March.

The boys team and mixed team qualified in the group stages of the competition with matches taking place at colleges and schools in the South West from September 2013 – March 2014.

The boys finals were up first with matches taking place on Friday and Saturday where Luke Stapleton, Ryan Marsterson, Jake Harrison and Laurence Edgeley come up against Ellesmere, Hampton and Bedes. The boys battled hard in their doubles and singles fixtures but came up short against some tough opposition over the two days. There were some doubles wins for Jake and Ryan and singles wins for Jake, Ryan and Luke over the three rounds. Overall Exeter could not manage to win one of the three ties up for grabs, they finished 4th in their round robin box and 8th overall in the country.

The mixed finals were up next with matches taking place on Saturday and Sunday where Exeter players Luke Stapleton, Poppy Brimson, Jake Harrison and Holly Moser come up against Pocklington, Ellesmere and New Hall. On paper the Exeter mixed team had a more realistic chance to qualify for the final from their round robin box, the students got off to a great start with a win on Saturday evening against Pockington 5-4 (10-6) in the match tie break. Exeter went into day 2 up against New Hall where the match went to another match tie break where Exeter just fell short this time losing 5-4 (10-6). On Sunday afternoon Exeter came up against Ellesmere who had not yet lost a match for two days, the students battled hard but could manage to get a win against their stronger opponents on the day, our mixed team finished 3rd in their box and 5th overall in the Country.

Exeter College Team captain and Director of tennis at Exwick Tennis Club Steve Ashton said “It was a great honour to captain such a great bunch of students on this trip; they represented Exeter college and themselves very well throughout their stay”. The standard of play at the nationals was extremely high where Exeter competing hard for every point in every match”. “We are incredibly proud of the students who have worked really hard since the start of the 2013 – 2014 Academic year, to even qualify for such a prestigious event has been a fantastic achievement for the students and Exeter College.”