Last weekend the Trinity women’s tennis team championed against Division II McMurry University.
They beat the War Hawks 5-1; however, due to rain delay, some of the matches were not finished, as mutually decided by both coaches. The Tigers improved their record to 8-7; and are now ranked 28th in the nation among Division III schools.
“I felt that the matches last week were very good. We started off really strong in the double,” said head coach Matt Haugen. “The weather was really iffy, but the girls came out on the court and took care of business in the singles matches. I thought they were really efficient with the way they played; it was good for confidence, an easy win like that, especially after losing a tough match to Gustavus last week. It was good to see them bounce back.”
In doubles play, seniors Stephanie Williamson and Kylie Hornbeck won the No.2 matchup 8-3.
Sophomores Caroline White and Gabrielle Roe defeated their opponents in the No.3 slot 8-2. Senior Kathleen Lundquist and sophomore Kristy Hamilton lost 4-8 in the No.1 slot.
“Our match against McMurry went really well,” Williamson said. “The team had people step up and finish their matches before it rained which was great. We have been working on stringing together 3 game runs and I think the team did a good job of executing what we had been doing in practice into the match.”
In singles play, Hornbeck took the No.1 slot after her opponent left the match early due to an injury.
At the time of play, Hornbeck was down 1-2. Roe won the No.4 line, defeating her opponent 6-1, 6-0.
Williamson took the last win of the day on the No. 6 singles line, winning 6-1, 6-1.
Three players did finish their singles matches, on mutual agreement from the coaches. Hamilton was down 2- 6, 0-5 in the No.2 slot when the matches were stopped. In the No.3 line, White lost the first set 2-6, but was up 5-2 before the matches were paused. Lavinia Bendandi led her No.5 line match 6-2, 4-0.
“I’ve been really impressed by the progress all thirteen of us have made since the start of the season,” Hamilton said. “Coach Haugen has a knack for making small adjustments in our game that really benefits our overall performance.”
Trinity will host University of Texas-Tyler at 10 a.m. tomorrow and Texas Lutheran University at 3 p.m.
“It’s a really dedicated group; they work hard for each other,” Haugen said. “We’ve been able to play good tennis despite having a few injuries. People are able to come in and step when they need to so it’s been really great. We’re looking to finish out this last month on a strong note and just get ready and prepare ourselves for nationals.”
Next Saturday, April 19, the Tigers will have another home doubleheader against the University of Texas-Dallas at 10:30 a.m. and Colorado College at 3 p.m. The weekend after that, Trinity plays host to the SCAC Championships from Friday, April 25 to Sunday, April 27. Winning the conference tournament would ensure Trinity a berth in the NCAA playoffs. The Tigers are looking to defend their SCAC title after beating Southwestern in the title game a year ago.
