Women’s tennis team beat WSU
USU women’s tennis team came back from a three-match losing streak on Wednesday, beating the Weber Wildcats, 4-3, which is their second win over the Wildcats this season.
“It always feels good to win. It helps the girls stay positive,” head coach Christian Wright said.
The doubles point was dropped by a close margin, with a win in the No. 1 position and a narrow losses in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Junior Hayley Swenson and freshman Jaclyn West defeated the Wildcat’s Greyce Farias and Elsje Beneke, 8-5, at No. 1. At the No. 2 spot junior Taylor Perry and freshman Kristina Voytsekhovich cut it close but fell short against Weber’s Caroline Drugge and Brittiny Moore, losing 8-6. Sophomore Monica Abella and senior Britney Watts finished up doubles action with an 8-0 loss against Kassia Adamson and Keya Jenkins of Weber.
USU played Weber earlier in the season and made a clean sweep, winning 7-0. When asked what the difference between the blowout match in February and the narrow win Wednesday, Wright replied, “When you win the doubles point, you gain a lot of momentum. With a close victory at No. 2 doubles and then a win at No. 3, Weber picked up that momentum. We were fighting against that momentum, as well as home court advantage. We just didn’t overcome those obstacles once they were put in our way.”
Regardless of the weaker score, Wright said he is proud of his team.
“They always do their best to regroup,” Wright said, “even after losses. We just continue to expect more out of ourselves.”
Swenson headed up singles action at the No. 1 spot with a win against Jenkins, 6-2, 6-4. West, at No. 2, followed the trend with a victory over Farias, 6-1, 6-1. No. 3 player Voytsekhovich defeated the Wildcat’s Beneke 6-1, 6-3, and Abella, at No. 4, fell to Moore, 6-3, 6-2. Perry was victorious against Caroline Drugge at No. 5, winning 6-4, 6-1. Watts finished up the match at No. 6, with a close loss to Adamson, 7-5, 7-6.
Utah State looks to improve its 1-4 WAC record when it travels to Boise, Idaho, for two days of WAC competition on Friday and Saturday. The Aggies will begin competition Friday against Boise State, and finish off with Idaho later in the day. USU concludes the weekend with a match against Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Wright mentioned the two things that the team is going to work on for their conference games this weekend: being decisive and steady.
“When you’re playing, you need to be bold and go for lots of shots, and you need to do that consistently,” Wright said. “That can backfire, but you need to do it anyway. We are going to work on that – going for every shot and taking every risk.”
– kayla.clark@aggiemail.usu.edu