Tennis Sees Mixed Results on Road

The women’s tennis team could not capitalize on a strong effort this past weekend, losing a close contest to Syracuse by a score of 3-4. After suffering a similar defeat to University of Buffalo earlier in the week, the Red was unable to pick up a win against the Orange, extending its current losing streak to four games. On the other side of the coin, the men’s team, while sitting out its Georgia State contest due to rain, split a pair of matches on Friday to start off its southern road trip. The team beat Wofford College early in the day, 7-0, but then lost to Furman College, 4-3.[img_assist|nid=35717|title=Don’t blink|desc=Freshman Stephanie Kent is one of the women who won their singles matches against Syracuse this weekend.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
Posting singles wins for the Red were freshman Stephanie Kent and seniors Elizabeth Googe and Shayna Miller. Kent, playing at the No. 2 spot, easily dispatched Christina Tan 6-4, 6-2. At the number three spot, Elizabeth Googe earned a 7-5, 6-4, 10-5 win over Simone Kalhorn. Following her was Miller who, at the four spot, handled Alessondra Parra by a score of 6-4, 7-5.
Despite its success in the singles, however, the Red struggled in the doubles, losing all three matches to Syracuse. Junior Natalia Sanchez and Kent were defeated by Emily Harman and Christina Tan, 8-4. At the two spot, Syracuse’s strong veterans, juniors Ashley Spicer and Chelsea Jones defeated Googe and Miller, 8-5. The Red also lost at the third and final spot, 8-4, as senior Catherine Duboc and sophomore Ruxandra Dumitrescu came up short against their opponents.
Undoubtedly, the Red has experienced its own share of injuries this season, and close losses like this could turn out differently with a healthy team.
“We are not playing at full strength,” Googe said. “We have some girls on the injury list, and while we do have considerable depth, we would like to see some of our players [on the injury list] perform so we can know where we stand [as a team].”
The senior, however, refused to blame the Red’s recent slide solely on the team’s health problems.
“I am somewhat disappointed of the way we have played,” she said. “Despite the injuries plaguing our team, we are capable of doing better than the statistics display and we all know that.”
Sanchez echoed her teammate’s comments, saying “we are really bothered by the amount of injuries. In close games like this one, it is really tough to judge how we would perform with a full squad, but our chances greatly improve.”
One thing that’s certain is that the Red can expect more wins in the near future as players return healthy in time for the Ivy League Competition. “
“As much as we would like to pile up wins at this point of the season, there are many more games to be played,” Sanchez said. “We need to ensure that we do not rush anything but carefully work [injured] players into the rotation in time for the most consequential games.”