Women’s tennis falls at Fall Classics
Pulling off a win at this year’s Utah Fall Classic was nearly impossible for the USU women’s tennis team. After struggling Thursday and Friday, moving on to Saturday never became a reality.
Sophomore Brianna Harris got Thursday off to a good start after winning her first singles match against Weber State’s Greyce Farias, 6-2, 6-0 in round 32. Sadly, she couldn’t keep the momentum going and was unable to beat BYU’s Christina Doerr in round 16.
“The area we needed to do better on was to dictate tempo more,” Head Coach Christian Wright said. “Unfortunately for Harris, Doerr set the pace of the match and took control of the situation.
“That girl that she played against from BYU really hit some good shots,” he said. “I think BYU just did a little bit better job controlling the tempo of the points, being the aggressor.”
Freshman Hailey Swenson put in her best effort for her singles match but fell to Utah’s Dee Nelson, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2. Junior Bridgette Strickland was close to victory but couldn’t follow through, as she lost to Utah’s Erin Monson, 7-5, 6-2, while USU sophomore Britney Watts lost to BYU’s Elle Carney.
When it came to doubles action, USU was no match for the University of Utah challengers. Watts and Swenson lost in round 32 to Utah’s Andrea Maughan, and Harris and Strickland fell in round 16 to Liz Ferris and Leigh Walsh.
Due to her play Thursday, Swenson made it to the consolation semifinals Friday. She started off the day 2-1 but retired early in the round against Colorado State’s Greer Satherlie. After Swenson’s legs started cramping, Wright pulled her out to prevent any other injuries. The coaches did not want to risk “damaging anything on a more serious level,” Wright said.
“She was in control of that match,” he said, “but we decided to not even push it.”
Strickland, Harris and Watts all received byes for the first round of singles consolation, but none of them could pull off their later matches.
After having an unsuccessful day Friday, the team was unable to compete Saturday, the last day of the tournament.
There are no seniors on the tennis team this year, which hurt them in the tournament. The lack of experience was “definitely a big factor,” Wright said.
As for what needs to be improved to pull off more wins, Wright said “solidifying some concepts and fundamentals into habit” will help get the women ready for their next tournament.
Even after beginning the season with a rough start, “I was very proud of them as far as how much effort they put out, sportsmanship, and implementing the new things that we’re working on,” Wright said.
-b.fairman@aggiemail.usu.edu-