UW-Eau Claire’s women’s tennis team battled Wheaton College on Saturday, April 20 and came out with a 5-4 victory.
The Blugolds first secured two wins during the doubles matches, with third-year Samantha Fuchs and second-year Anna Lee winning the No. 1 doubles match 8-1 and third-year Morgan Dekan and fifth-year Sydney Presler winning the No. 2 doubles match 8-7.
The team moved on to the singles play in the lead with a score of 2-1.
“Our team has been putting in a lot of time and effort, and it has shown in our high level of competition the past few weekends,” Lee said. “All across the lineup, we have had long, hard-fought matches.”
Fuchs and Lee both earned their win during the No. 1 and No. 2 singles match, respectively. However, Wheaton leveled the score 4-4 by claiming the No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches.
Only the No. 4 match was left to determine which team would come out on top, and Presler sealed the Blugolds’ victory with a score of 7-6, 3-6, 6-2.
Keeping their momentum going, the team visited Carthage College the next day, Sunday, April 21, where they secured a 5-4 victory yet again.
However, the competition did not begin in the Blugolds’ favor, losing the first two doubles matches. Head coach Kenneth Cychosz said the fatigue from the previous day was a factor.
“The match on Saturday against Wheaton was an incredibly good team that we beat. It was a very long match, and we came out slow the next day because we were tired. It took everything the girls had to come back and win that second match on Sunday,” Cychosz said.
The team made a comeback starting with Téa Armstrong and Liv Herzog, who worked together to win the No. 3 doubles match.
Opposite of the previous day, the team headed into the singles matches with a score of 1-2.
Success in the singles play allowed for a mighty recovery. The team secured four of the six singles matches with Fuchs’ score of 6-4, 6-2; Lee’s 6-1, 6-1; Presler’s 6-1,6-1; and Herzog’s 6-1, 6-1.
“In the beginning of the season we were losing matches 4-5, and now we’re winning matches 5-4,” Cychosz said. “The girls are really getting together as a team and just making sure we get that last point somehow, and that’s been really fun to watch. I just love the way they come together.”
This double-win weekend concluded the women’s tennis regular season matches and now they will prepare for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Team Tournament taking place on Saturday, April 27 at Whitewater.
This upcoming weekend evokes mixed feelings for senior player Presler.
“Heading into this weekend is definitely bittersweet for me. I’m done after this season, so it’s sad knowing that I may be playing my last matches. However, I am excited to compete with my teammates and to play against some good teams. We want to make the most of this opportunity,” Presler said.
In the four-team tournament, the Blugolds are the No. 2 seed. They will be up against UW-Lacrosse, the No. 3 seed, at 12 p.m. on April 27.
Cychosz said the team’s preparation and approach for the final tournament isn’t going to be any different.
“We’re just going to play off the momentum we’ve got going, do the things we’ve been doing and hopefully that’s good enough,” Cychosz said. “Win or lose, we’ve had a great season, and the girls have been tremendous.”
After the champions of both semifinal matches are determined, the two teams will play at 3 p.m. the same day for the conference title and NCAA Tournament berth.
Matczak can be reached at [email protected].
