November 11, 2008

Women’s Tennis Travels to Indiana for Fall Season Finale

Print More

Call it strength through unity: a powerful team mentality that allowed the women’s tennis team to upend its opponents this past weekend. Or just call it good timing. Either way, the women’s tennis team wrapped up its fall season this past weekend at Purdue University in Indiana, notching up several wins over tough opponents. Cornell was the only team from the Northeast in attendance at the Purdue Invitational, and this was the first — and last — time that the whole team traveled to the same invitational this season. In the past, tournaments had only featured a handful of Cornell players. [img_assist|nid=33472|title=All over it|desc=Senior Tamara John won her doubles match this weekend with partner Natalia Sanchez, but lost her singles matchup.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
“We hadn’t played any of those teams before,” said senior Shayna Miller. “So it was good preparation for the spring season to play against bigger, tougher teams.”
Despite the reputation of those in attendance at Purdue — Midwest powerhouses Michigan State and Louisville were present — the Red prevailed over the weekend and ended its fall season on a high note.
In Flight 1 doubles, junior Natalia Sanchez and senior Tamara John beat Tulane’s Lindsey Dvorak and Caroline Gerber, 8-2. Cornell also beat Tulane in Flight 2 doubles, with Miller and freshman Stephanie Kent beating Jessica Lange and Sharon Siegel, 8-2, as well.
In singles play, Sanchez beat Dvorak 6-1, 6-1 in the first flight. In the fourth flight, sophomore Ruxandra Dumitrescu defeated Lange 6-2, 6-1 and Miller beat Siegel 6-1, 6-1. John and senior Catherine Duboc lost to Michigan State players in Flight 2 and Flight 6, respectively.
“The match went really well,” Miller said. “[Siegel] was a good player, but I stayed focused.”
This tournament should provide the squad with ample confidence heading into the upcoming spring season in a few months, and the improvement over the past months has been marked.
“I absolutely think [we’ve improved],” Miller said. “Even though we lost some matches, we played well.”