Close loss, win for MU women’s tennis

Marina Boyle, Features editor

Women’s tennis suffered a 4-3 loss to Slippery Rock on April 2, but came back to defeat California University of Pennsylvania in the following game on April 5.

Head Coach Jerome Simon was impressed by both performances this week against the schools, both Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opponents. “We made a great effort but just came up a little short against SRU,” Simon said. “When you compete there are two results, you either win or learn, and against Slippery Rock we learned. Traveling to California we were clicking on all cylinders and were very prepared and it showed.”

Slippery Rock, ranked No. 5 in the Atlantic region compared with the No. 3 Lakers won, both doubles matches on the court each by a margin of 7-5, taking a 1-0 lead for the match. The Lakers then won three of five singles contests but came up one point short of a win. The final score was 4-3, Slippery Rock.

On April 5, the Lakers bounced back, defeating California University of Pennsylvania with a 6-1 win in another PSAC West matchup. The women played with only five players, but the Lakers won in both doubles matches and the five singles contests.

The Lakers forfeited one doubles match and one singles point for their lack of a sixth competing player. Kayla Frost and Sangeeta Roopan won the first doubles match with a 6-1 final score. They were followed by Athina Tsagkaraki and Naomi Jahr who won 6-2.

In singles, the women dominated by winning each match in straight sets.

“It was a tough loss against Slippery Rock, but we battled back on Friday against California University of Pennsylvania,” Roopan said. “We are in good shape and we feel that we have the potential to do well the rest of this season.”

Both Coach Simon and the team share these high hopes for the rest of the season. “The season has had its ups and downs, but we are on the right track now,” Simon said. “We set our expectations high every year and an NCAA appearance is expected. We hope to make Nationals and the Sweet 16 along with hopefully a conference championship on the way.”

The Lakers will be in action again this Wednesday, when they host Indiana University of Pennsylvania at Penn State Behrend, rounding out a trio of back-to-back PSAC opponents. IUP is 6-7 for the season and 2-0 in the PSAC standings and is 2-2 on the road. The Lakers are currently 5-1 when hosting teams this season.

“We hope to do well in the coming matches and hopefully make it to the conference tournament,” Jahr said.