Women’s Tennis
All distractions from a trip to Hawaii aside, the Rams’ tennis
team came back to the mainland last week with a pair of wins and
tans to match. After squeezing by host team University of Hawaii
4-3 and dominating Hawaii Pacific University 5-1, the Rams are on
an upward swing at just the right time.
“We were very lucky to get (to Hawaii) early and practice for
three days before the matches,” said head coach Jon Messick. “We
hadn’t competed in over two weeks so it took some adjusting to, but
the girls definitely came through.”
The Rams have continued to get productive outings from standouts
Dasha Zhurin and Emily Kirchem who went undefeated in Hawaii along
with teammate Tatyana Ugorich. After beating the Rainbow Warriors
Wednesday, the team rolled past Hawaii Pacific and did not play any
doubles matches, a weakness of the team.
“Our top of the lineup has been incredible this season,” Messick
said. “Dasha and Emily have really set the tone for the rest of the
lineup with their solid play this year.”
Last Sunday the Rams hosted their first home match of the year
knocking off Drake 5-2. The team rallied behind strong play from
the singles positions with victories coming from the 2-6 seeds, a
feat previously unrealized this season.
“The Drake match was very tough on the team,” Messick said. “We
had just arrived from Honolulu the day before and the girls were
pretty tired, but the team came through and fought hard.”
Riding their latest winning streak, the Rams will look to keep
the rally alive this Saturday against Mountain West opponent and
border rival Wyoming. This will be the first conference match of
the season and an opportunity for the team to measure up with
league competition.
“Wyoming was one of the weaker Mountain West schools last
season, but they’ve made some adjustments, gotten some new players
in and I expect them to be a very tough opponent this season,”
Messick said.
The Rams will host the tennis Border War showdown at the Varsity
Courts at 11 a.m., giving the team an advantage coming into a tough
stretch of the season.
“This is where the season really heats up,” Messick said. “Were
going to have to play real well against Wyoming to beat them and it
will only get tougher from here on.”
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