Women’s tennis won 9-0 against North Carolina Wesleyan College (Rocky Mount, N.C.) on Saturday before being swept by the California University of Pennsylvania Vulcans (California, Pa.) on Sunday.
The Ladies (3-3) had high energy from the start in their home match-up against the North Carolina Wesleyan Battling Bishops (1-3). The doubles matches ended quickly as the second-seeded team of Maggie Sweeney ’19 and Grace Winslow ’18 and the third-seeded team of Elise Altschuler ’16 and Alyssa Moreau ’18 easily won their matches 8-0.
“This was a good match for us because we played well and North Carolina Wesleyan College was a good team last year, making it to the NCAA tournament, so to get a win over them was a good sign,” Head Coach Scott Thielke said.
In singles play, the Ladies added to their domination of the Battling Bishops. At the end of the day, the Ladies achieved a 9-0 victory and improved their record to 3-2.
The Ladies’ second match of the weekend had a much different outcome. Though the Ladies played tenaciously against the Vulcans (2-2), ranked 14th in Division II, the final score was an 0-9 loss for the Ladies.
The loss did not necessarily reflect the Ladies’ effort. In number-one doubles, Diana Aboubakare ’18 and Samantha Murphy ’16 stood strong against their Vulcan opponents, but eventually lost the match 8-6.
“The team we played on Sunday was definitely a lot tougher than the team we played on Saturday,” Murphy said. “But that being said, we [had] close matches on at least five of the nine courts, so if a couple more things had gone our way, we could have gotten a few more wins and had more of a chance.”
During singles play, Aboubakare made a solid showing but conceded 7-5, 6-4 at the number-one spot. Jenna Murray ’17, Murphy and Annie Reiner ’19, playing at the number-three, number-four and number-six spots, respectively, all had competitive showings, each taking their opponent to three sets. None of the Ladies converted their efforts into match wins, resulting in their eventual 0-9 defeat.
The Ladies will be back on the court March 14 as they travel to Claremont, Calif. to face Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.), when they will look to gain some redemption and elevate their overall record before beginning league play.
“We’re very excited to go to California and get out into the sun and start playing outside,” Murphy said. “Some of the teams we’re playing in California are pretty tough, but it will be a good gauge to see where we’re at going into conference play when we get back.”