2008 Woodie Awards
Women's Tennis back to it's winning ways
Tyler Duke
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Sports
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Unfortunately, after suffering early season defeats against Simmons and MIT, the girls needed to find a strategy that would secure the team more wins in the future.
Last Saturday, the team played against Emerson College, their rivals from across the Common. Consisting of three doubles matches and six singles matches, the team needed at least five wins to defeat Emerson.
"Finding the right chemistry is key," said Stahl. "We didn't have the right combinations against MIT. The girls were running into each other. I switched them up for the match against Emerson," he said after the Emerson match.
Stahl's changes worked. The girls dominated Emerson in doubles play, which consisted of an eight game pro-set, and won their matches 8-1, 8-2, and 8-1.
The team continued to control play and ended up shutting Emerson out completely, winning all six of their singles matches.
"I'm trying to lead the team by example," said co-captain and last year's GNAC co-rookie of the year Alex Hernandez. "Our team has more confidence and more responsibility now. We're more of a team, and more of a family."
Staying true to her word, Hernandez didn't drop a game in her singles match, winning both sets 6-0. Fellow co-captain Kaitlynn Cates also took the reigns, winning both of her sets against Emerson's number-one seeded player.
Not to be forgotten was freshman sensation Lauren Cameron, who remained undefeated this season after winning both sets against her opponent.
Rachel Troia, Rebecca Copeland and Carla Malqui exhibited strong showings as well, as each won their matches to complete the shut out sweep against Emerson.
At about the halfway mark of the season, the Lady Rams sit at 6-2, including 5 straight wins and are posied to make a strong playoff push in the GNAC coming down the stretch.
The team has the next few days off, but will use the time for additional practice to prepare for their next match, at home against Johnson and Wales on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 1 p.m.
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