Tennis team beats Lewis and Clark

After losing its first match, the Utah State women’s tennis team won its last two matches against Gonzaga and Lewis and Clark to win two of three matches over the weekend in Boise, Idaho.

The Aggies swept Lewis and Clark State 7-0 on Saturday.

The Aggies played doubles well which hadn’t happened in a while, Utah State Head Coach Christian Wright said.

“It was a good effort from the girls,” Wright said. “I really liked their body language and their focus. There weren’t as many ups and downs.”

The Aggies won the doubles point when all six Aggie women won their doubles matches. The No. 1 doubles pair won 8-3, at No. 2 the Ags won 8-4 and the No. 3 came out on top at 8-2.

Most of the Aggies won easily in their singles matches, also.

Playing at the No. 5 position, Andrea Barker kept her composure after losing her second set to have the match tied 6-0, 3-6. She won the final set and the match 6-4.

Lauren Monson was able to hold on to win her singles match 6-0, 7-5.

Friday, the Aggies played the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Aggies lost all three of their doubles matches and were behind in one of their singles matches.

But Wright said the Aggies started to play with a lot more energy and they went on to win five of their six singles matches.

Aggies Courtney Anderson and Carolyn Stephens won relatively easily 6-1, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-3.

The other three singles wins for the Aggies were a bit closer. Jill Smith won 7-6, 6-1 while Monson won 7-5, 6-3.

Barker came back after a first set loss to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

No. 1 singles player Lindsey Bennion won her first set against Gonzaga’s Amanda Becker, but lost her second two to go down 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

On Thursday Boise State did to the Aggies what the Ags did to Lewis and Clark on Saturday.

The Broncos swept the Ags and the closest match was Barker’s No. 5 singles who lost 6-3, 6-3. Wright said the Broncos are a solid team and the Aggies didn’t play badly but they didn’t play well enough to win.

Thanks to a shuffle in the schedule, the rest of the Aggies’ regular season meets will be home meets. With the Aggies’ success and better focus on Friday and Saturday, Wright said there are some things the team will focus on.

“We are going to focus on being consistent,” he said. “Consistency in our movement, consistency in our shots and consistency in our body language. We need to not let a couple setbacks, a lost point here or a lost game there, affect us to where we lose focus.

“We need to play each point well and not dwell on what’s passed.”

-krn@cc.usu.edu