Women’s tennis splits home series with NAU, SUU
The Utah State women’s tennis team played some of its worst and best tennis this weekend. After losing 7-0 to Northern Arizona University Friday, the Aggies bounced back and crushed Southern Utah University, 7-0, Saturday morning, bringing the Aggie season record to 4-7.
Things could not have gone worse Friday. Playing outside for the first time in Logan this spring, it was a cold, windy and overcast day, and the Aggies couldn’t find a rhythm or a pattern and lost all three doubles matches. After losing all six singles matches, players were left scratching their heads in bewilderment.
USU head coach Chris Wright didn’t have an answer, either.
“I don’t know,” he said. “We should not have lost 7-0. They were consistent, and our execution was not that good.”
USU’s No. 2 singles player, Jocee Mason, was the only Aggie who managed to take her match to a third set, but ended up losing 5-7, 7-6, 7-2, 6-2.
“I had the lead but just let up,” Mason said. “We just need to learn how to finish the points.”
USU’s No. 4, 5 and 6 singles only managed to take two games from the Lumberjacks, losing twice 6-0, 6-1, and Amy Thatcher, the Aggies’ No. 5 singles player, lost 6-0, 6-0.
What a difference a day makes.
“If we come into the game with the right attitude, we will see a big turnaround,” Wright said after Friday’s loss.
Under blue skies Saturday, the Aggies had no problem defeating the T-Birds, 7-0. Early in the morning, USU tandem Sarah Lowe and Amy Thatcher overwhelmed SUU’s No. 1 singles Kendra Gleason and No. 2 singles Jennifer Case in a doubles match, 8-1, while the No. 2 and 3 doubles defeated their opponents 9-7, and 8-5 respectively.
Singles was no different. Lowe and Mason each defeated their opponents 6-0, 6-1. No. 3 singles player Richelle Ferguson defeated SUU’s Katie Payne in two sets 6-4, 6-1.
What was most impressive to Coach Wright was how USU’s No. 4, 5 and 6 singles turned around from the prior day’s defeat, he said.
Tracy Bertagna, at No. 4 singles, defeated Melinda Wilkies 6-1, 6-2; Johanna Johnson, at No. 5 singles, defeated Kerry Patterson 6-3, 6-3. Amelia Martinez, at No. 6 singles, defeated Ashlee Berge 6-1, 6-3.
“It was a completely different attitude,” Wright said. “We were determined to win after losing our last games.”
The women will play Wednesday vs. Weber State in Ogden at noon.