The Women’s tennis team was hard at work while the majority of DePauw students were away for spring break last week. The team competed in six total matches for the week: three in Hilton Head, S.C and three in Atlanta. The week had its highs and lows, as the Tigers won every match in Hilton Head but lost every match in Atlanta.
The Tigers began their spring break play with a bang as they destroyed Allegheny 9-0.
For junior Maddie Lee, a dominant victory to kick off their week was a great representation of how competitive the players are, especially after a long break.
“It was our first match back after two weeks of not competing, so it was good to see us all competing at a pretty high level.”
The Tigers followed up their impressive victory over Allegheny by handing Wisconsin, Whitewater their first loss of the season in tight 5-4 battle. Wanting to keep their momentum, the Tigers finished their trip to Hilton Head by winning their final four singles matches to cap off a 5-4 comeback victory over Carleton.
Reflecting on their first three matches in Hilton Head, Lee was relatively optimistic about what she saw.
“We realized some things that we need to be working on for sure, but, overall, it was a great showing,” she said. “We have a very young team so it was really neat to see some of those girls figure it out as the match went on and play their best.”
Despite the success they had in Hilton Head, there was an entirely different atmosphere waiting for the Tigers when they arrived in Atlanta for the Fab 5 Tournament.
“We were playing the top ranked teams in the Country,” Lee said.
The Tigers’ winning streak came to an end in brutal fashion as they were crushed by Emory 9-0 in their first match. Unfortunately, it did not get any better on the second day of Fab 5 Tournament play as they dropped another match to Sewanee 5-1. Down but not quite out, the Tigers went into their final match against Williams with optimism, but they fell hard with a 9-0 loss.
Although it was difficult end to the week given the strong start, first-year Ali Bush sees the losses as motivation for the future.
"We all got better just by playing them,” she said, “It makes us want to work even harder.”
First-year Megan Galle doesn’t think they are too far off from being where they want to.
“I think we’re getting there, but I think the most important thing is to focus on the doubles and trying to clean up our shots a little bit in order to hit a high percentage ball.”
Overall, the Tigers broke even on their spring break play with a record of 3-3 for the week. Their overall record currently stands at 6-7, and they will have a chance to work their way back up to .500 today in their match against a team to be determined--either Kenyon College or Hope College--in Madison, Wis.