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Created on Monday, 16 April 2012 18:50
Women’s tennis lost its final match of the season Friday, coming up short against ETSU with a score of 6-1.
The day didn’t start or end well for App. ETSU dominated doubles play, winning all three matches.
After falling in doubles, ASU looked to singles play to take the match.
But ETSU was too much for the Mountaineers - thanks in part to the play of the Bucs’ Paula Jaime, who is ranked No. 11 in the region.
There were some bright spots. Junior Ellie Linsell gave Jaime a tough fight, winning the first set and forcing a tiebreaker to decide the match.
But Linsell couldn’t get the final set and ultimately fell to Jaime 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-0).
"I felt that I was definitely in control of my ETSU match - unfortunately, I had a referee’s decision go against myself and I let it affect me negatively,” Linsell said. “But it’s all a learning curve and hopefully next time I’ll be stronger. The conference tournament is where we need to play our best tennis.”
Junior Jennifer Ansari was the lone victor for ASU, taking her match 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
“I was happy to win my match and pull through the third set, but sad my teammates didn’t win their matches,” Ansari said. “I plan to stay focused and positive and have some good results in the SoCon tourney.”
The Mountaineers took a lesson away from Friday’s loss: the knowledge of what needs to be improved before the SoCon Tournament this weekend.
“After my loss at ETSU, I realized that I need to be more aggressive at the net,” said freshman Gabby Gabriel, who fell 6-2, 6-4 to her ETSU foe. “I feel very ready for the SoCon Tournament coming up.”
Despite Friday’s loss, the program has had one of its most successful seasons to date. The Mountaineers have brought home the most overall victories since 2006 and the most conference wins since 2000.
“We played really well as a team this year,” head coach Collin Crothers said. “I can say that we did not lose to any team that we were better than, which can be most unusual. The team is playing better than expectations.”
App will travel to Charleston, S.C. this weekend for the SoCon tournament, hosted April 19 to 22 by the College of Charleston and The Citadel.
Story: JORDAN DEVERE, Intern Sports Reporter
