Elsah, IL--
In their first dual match today the women' tennis team withstood an onslaught of hard ground strokes and big serves from the Missouri Baptist Spartans. The Panthers pulled in a win at #1 doubles. The duo of
Paige Cooley and
Gabby Kitchingman worked well together with Paige hitting thunderous ground strokes setting up Gabby at the net. Gabby pounced on volleys. Principia's #2 duo started out slowly and were clawing their way back into the match but were halted by some big serves from the Spartan duo. At #3 doubles
Dani Lomascolo and
Sarah Switzer had difficulty handling the big serves from the opponents.
After the doubles, Principia was only down 2-1 and quickly tied it up the match score when
Paige Cooley, our #1 singles, defeated her opponent dropping only 2 games.
Greer Sprague, Principia's #3 singles, played two tough sets before succumbing to some hard serves and strong baseline play from her opponent.
Brittany Duke, #4 singles, had a good showing in the first set. Brittany hits heavy and deep forehands and backhands and often ventured to the net to close out points. In the other singles matches, the Spartan's were too strong for the Principia players.
Principia Panthers played well in the scrimmage match against the Blackburn Beaver's. Our team only lost one singles match after sweeping the doubles matches. The afternoon match was an opportunity for the reserve players to step into the starting lineup and play singles and doubles. In her first match as a Principia athlete,
Paige Lesko had a strong showing at #6 singles only losing one game. She played a steady game with her ground strokes and ran to every ball.
Amber Heady, #4 singles, and
Caroline Carlson, #5 singles, also had a strong showing in their singles and doubles matches only dropping a few games.
The pre-season matches were a good opportunity for the players to see their strengths and weaknesses and to organize their upcoming practices. Next week the team will travel to Indiana to play DePauw and Indiana Wesleyan.
Complete match scores are below.
Principia v Missouri Baptist
2 - 7
Principia v Blackburn
8 - 1
