The BG women’s tennis team continued their fiery play against Wayne State yesterday with a 7-0 blowout in the first dual-match of the season.
After consecutive weekends of nonstop tournament action, the Falcons failed to show any signs of fatigue, dominating the Warriors in every way imaginable. Falcon head coach Penny Dean said since it was the team’s first dual-match, there was some pressure but everybody was able to stay relaxed.
“We had to be mentally tough, and everybody did that,” Dean said. “It’s more exciting because they’re playing for the team now and not just themselves. We saw a good camaraderie and they rallied around each other.”
Last season, the Falcons also defeated Wayne State without much of a problem, but the Warriors have improved–to some degree.
Dean said even though it was a lopsided performance on the score sheet, Wayne State was a lot tougher than before.
“We beat them easily last year, but they gave us more of a challenge this time,” Dean said. “They gave us some tough matches and a lot of good, long points.”
The toughest match of the day for the Falcons came at the number one singles flight where Susie Schoenberger defeated Wayne State’s Natalya Natyshak, 7-5, 6-4.
“This girl (Natyshak) was good,” Dean said. “There’s never a breather match at number one.”
But Wayne State was not able to overcome the explosive depth that the Falcons posses.
In doubles, the Falcon team of Laura Kokinda and Erica Wolfe powered past Olga Petrovic and Stephanie Vantuyl, 8-2, while the duo of Andrea Volle and Ashley Jakupcin rolled past Dee Mays and Jaclyn Johnston, 8-4. The Falcon team of Andrea Meister and Jenna Nussbaum snuck by Natyshak and Amanda Pressotto with a 9-7 score.
Singles competition went even better for the Falcons, as Jakupcin continued her dominant play with another impressive performance against Holeema Syed, winning 6-0, 6-1.
With their next match over a month away, the Falcons have plenty of time to get even better. Dean said she will focus on more individual work and conditioning in preparation for their next tournament.
“I’m looking forward to the change,” Dean said. “We have some time to work individually, but the difficult task will be keeping up the motivation.”
Next up for the Falcons is the Penn State Tournament, November 12-13 in State College, Pa.
