The Elizabethtown College women’s tennis team travelled to Mary Washington University on March 16 hoping to keep an undefeated title, but lost the match 8-1. Senior Allison Burkhardt was the only team member to win her three-set singles match. Mary Washington’s Cassie Bownman beat Burkhardt in the first set 6-0, but Burkhardt made a strong comeback to win her second set 7-5 and her third set 10-4. Even though Burkhardt made a strong representation for Etown in the singles match, Mary Washington had victory over all of the double play and the five other singles matches. Senior Kristi Noecker persevered through her first set at number singles against Mary Washington’s Shelby Harris, but fell at a final score of 6-3. Sophomore Sarah Calabro played against Paige Weinberg and won a pair of games in each set of her sixth singles match, but couldn’t defeat Weinberg when she won 6-2 in each set.
Sophomore Christine Evangelista gave her overall expectations before the meet against Mary Washington: “MW has a good tennis team and strong players, but so does our team. They may be a challenging team, but we’re ready to play our hardest to see how we stack up against them.”
Even though the Jays did not win the match this Saturday, the women’s tennis team will not give up or put their heads down. Burkhardt showed optimism when she said, “For every match we play, no matter who the opponent is, the expectation for ourselves is to play the best tennis that we can play, and to keep fighting until the last point of the match is over.” That is exactly what they did at their match at Mary Washington.
The Etown women’s tennis team was playing undefeated this season until the recent loss to Mary Washington. Over spring break, the women and men travelled to Hilton Head, S.C. to play. The women faced Saint Vincent College, Quincy University, Malone University and St. John Fisher College. Etown had a strong victory over all the teams they played in South Carolina. They beat St. Vincent 9-0, Quincy 8-1, Malone 5-4 and St. John Fisher 9-0. The men also went 4-0 on spring break. They were victorious against Roanoke College 6-3, Malone 5-4, Eastern Nazarene College 9-0 and St. John Fisher 6-3. The break was a strong start to the season and allowed Etown a chance to experience new teams. Burkhardt commented about the spring break trip, “It was really nice to see everyone playing their best tennis, and giving 100 percent during every match.”
The Jays’ performance over spring break is a reflection of their hard work before the season started. The team has been preparing by running drills and playing each other on the courts during the fall season. With words of encouragement from their coach and determination, the tennis team prepared long and hard for their spring tennis season.
Burkhardt said, “Our coach is very supportive, and is always looking for ways to help us improve our games individually and as a team so that we feel confident when we step out onto the court.” Even though those practices helped them in the long run, the ITA and MAC tournaments helped them start their season strong. Evangelista said, “The ITAs and MACs mentally prepare you for the competitive aspect of playing our matches in the spring.” Despite the recent loss at Mary Washington, the Blue Jays will continue to play their hardest for the remainder of the season.
Ranked 12th in the ITA Atlantic South Region, the women’s team faced Dickinson College March 20. The men will next play at Dickinson March 21.