Wildcats edge Ag tennis team
The USU women’s tennis team fell on the road in a hard-fought battle against the Wildcats of Weber State, 4-3.
Doubles turned out to be a high note in the match against Weber. The duos of Bridgette Strickland and Hailey Swenson along with Britney Watts and Taylor Perry were all able to put away their opponents. USU was able to grab the points that counted, and coach Christian Wright said he was pleased with the effort of the team.
“They played well. At number one (Strickland/Swenson) we had a fairly comfortable lead throughout,” Wright said. “Number two (Abella/Limon) was close. We had a couple of chances to break and take the lead in that match, but we played well at three (Perry/Watts), which was good to see. It was really tight the whole way, right to the very end, and we were able to pull it off there at the end.”
This marks the first time since March 14 that the Aggie ladies have managed to win the doubles point in their matches. More importantly, it is a marker that the team is beginning to progress, despite the troubles the team has faced in singles competition recently.
In singles play, the Lady Ags couldn’t hold back the Wildcat onslaught as they dropped four of the six spots. Victorious for USU was Monica Abella, a sophomore from Veracruz, Mexico, at the three spot. She won in two straight sets against Weber’s Caroline Drugge. Hailey Swenson also won at the one spot when she rallied from a one-set deficit to take the final two, 6-1, 6-4 and win the match. Wright said he was especially impressed with Abella’s win.
“I thought Monica did a good job,” he said. “She played the same girl she played before, and this time she had to work a lot harder. I think Monica has picked up her game lately, and if there’s one that stands out, that would probably be it. I’m proud of the girls.”
Wright also praised the attitude of the team in this loss. He said the girls have become increasingly more competitive in the last few weeks as they have taken on difficult opponents.
“I think I liked what I saw today in these matches,” he said. “There’s a harder fight each time on the court. They’re a little bit more united as a team and they’re really rooting each other on and battling very hard for each other. That’s not real easy to do when you have a lot of close ones, but they’ve continued to fight. I’m proud of that.”
–la.hem@aggiemail.usu.edu