Women’s Tennis Falls to Saint Vincent
On Thursday, Sept. 22, the women’s tennis team traveled to Saint Vincent College for a Presidents’ Athletic Conference contest. The Bearcats defeated the Yellow Jackets 9-0.
Head coach Ron Headlee said the Yellow Jackets faced a strong Saint Vincent team but did well, despite the final score. Headlee said the Yellow Jackets were without their number two player, Wendy Wall, who was unable to attend the match due to an academic conflict.
This forced the other women to play up a spot, something Headlee said makes a win more difficult.
According to Headlee, the number one doubles team of senior Heidi Evans and sophomore Aubree Brown played well. He said the women didn’t win their doubles match but put in a good performance.
Headlee said Evans, who is the number three singles player, played well against Saint Vincent.
He said several of the top women are playing consistently, Evans being one of them.
Brown takes on the number one singles spot and Headlee said she has gone up against several tough opponents.
“She wasn’t feeling quite up to par for the match, but she battled really hard for us,” said Headlee.
The closeness of the team is something that Headlee said the women are continuing to work on.
Headlee, who is in his first season at the helm, said while he is learning about his players, they are also doing the same, learning about him and looking to come together more as a team as they try to improve every day.
Headlee said he thinks the women’s approach during their matches is something the overall team needs to work on.
“I think we, as doubles, are still not being aggressive enough at the net, we still need to get a little bit better there,” he said.
He also would like the team to be more patient when trying to score their points in singles matches.
“I think we need to be more aggressive coming into the net to put the pressure on the other person, but I think we are starting to do that a little more,” said Headlee.
The Jackets gaining and playing with confidence is something else Headlee would like to see the Jackets improve upon throughout the rest of the season.
Headlee said while trying to win all matches, especially those the team matches up about equally with, he pushes all of to go out and get better in their individual matches.
After the loss, the Yellow Jackets fell to 1-5 on the season and 1-3 in PAC play.
The Yellow Jackets will host the Thiel College Tomcats on Tuesday, Sept. 27.