Women’s Tennis Loses Second to Last Match of Season
In the penultimate match of the season, the Waynesburg University women’s tennis team squared off against the Geneva Golden Tornadoes. The Jackets (1-9, 1-6) came out on the short end of a 9-0 Geneva victory.
The Tornadoes left the courts on Wednesday with a (9-5, 4-4) record and sit at fifth place in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. The Tornadoes blanked the Jackets across the board except for one game, which was won by the Jackets’ number two singles player Liz Ensminger.
For those who have been keeping up with the season, Waynesburg University junior Wendy Wall is the number two doubles regular. Wall and fellow doubles partner Aubree Brown couldn’t make the match due to class conflicts, and their absence was one that head coach Ron Headlee felt affected the match.
“It was tough for us because we only had five girls available today,” said Headlee. “You don’t have your number one and number two and that makes it a little bit harder.”
The absence of Wall and Brown was seen on the score-line, as the number three doubles and number six singles were forfeited by Waynesburg. Although Brown and Wall are the number one and two players on the team, they weren’t the only ones to miss, as Headlee reported that four girls weren’t able to make the match. Despite being shorthanded in the contest, Headlee was content with his team’s performance.
“The scores weren’t good, but they all went out and made a good effort,” said Headlee. “We were just a little overmatched.”
With Brown and Wall absent, senior Heidi Evans, who has fluctuated between playing number one and two singles, and junior Liz Ensminger were the number one and two players for the match. Evans is usually the number three or two player and Ensminger the number four and the difficulty of playing up one or two spots is one that Evans understands.
“It is always hard to play up a few positions,” said Evans. “One is hard enough, but two is even harder.”
The opportunity to play several positions higher for both Evans and Ensminger was one that Evans feels helped her and her usual doubles partner gain confidence.
“We can play better than we think we can,” said Evans. “When we started playing, we realized that they didn’t have as many strengths as we thought they did. We kind of shocked ourselves with how we were playing.”
Evans added that she was nervous to play number one doubles without Brown beside her and said her and Ensminger began the set lacking confidence. While Brown and Wall weren’t able to participate in the match, according to Evans, the absence of the players didn’t stop the team from playing with the intent to win.
“I definitely saw everyone was excited to be there and play,” said Evans. “When I have to play up into a higher level or position, I start to doubt myself and lose confidence, but I didn’t see that in them; they had that look in their eyes that they were still going to go out and try.”
The Jackets will conclude their season at home on Friday, where they will battle the Westminster Titans. The match is set to start at 3 p.m.