The women’s tennis team defeated Elmhurst College 9-0 this past Sunday. The Maroons are now 2–0, and the Bluejays are 1–9. The match was held at Bally’s Total Fitness on 47th Street.
“In a match like this one, it is easy to lose sight of sticking to the game, but not one of us lost focus. It was pretty encouraging,” third-year Linden Li said.
In singles, fourth-year and team captain Carmen Vaca Guzman won her games 6–0, 6–0; Li won her matches 6–0, 6–0; first-year Kelsey McGillis won 6–0, 6–1; first-year Megan Tang won 6–0, 6–0; first-year Maggie Schumann won 6–0, 6–0; and Anastasia Kaiser won 6–0, 6–1.
In doubles, Tang and Vaca Guzman defeated their opponents 8–0; Li and Schumann won their match 8–0; and Kaiser and McGillis won 8–0.
For this match, the doubles line-ups were slighted changed to accommodate the players’ schedules. Fourth-years Jen Kung and Kendra Higgins were not able to attend the match because of interviews for graduate school, and their absence allowed three of the first-years on the team the opportunity for extra competition.
“Pairings for doubles are determined by player availability (some seniors have grad school interviews and such), ability, and natural chemistry between partners,” Kaiser said. “We only lost two games total; even though our one and two players weren’t at the match, we still played really well.”
Li said that in doubles, players are usually matched with one partner for the entire season but because not every player can make it to every match, the team has been getting accustomed to playing with other partners.
The women’s tennis team will be traveling for their next match; as of now, they only have two home games for the entire season. They will be playing Ball State, a Division I school, in Muncie, Indiana, on Friday, February 10 at 6 p.m. Like the Maroons, the Cardinals have been undefeated in their league matches.
