On the first day of spring, the UW-Eau Claire women’s tennis team sprang into action, winning its first two matches of 2010 last Saturday. The Blugolds won first against the College of St. Benedict (Minn.) and then St. Catherine University (Minn.), both with results of 7-2.
“I’m very pleased with the way we played,” coach Craig Monson said. “We played two teams in their mid-season versus us, who are just starting. We’re ahead of where I thought we’d be in this point in time, and things are looking good.”
The Blugolds started Saturday with five wins in singles and two wins in doubles competition against the College of St. Benedict. With highly competitive matchups, the top three singles matches came down to the third set. But all three Blugolds prevailed:
Senior Gina Dahl took the No. 1 spot 6-2, 1-6, 10-8
Senior Brenna McCormick won the No. 2 match 6-3, 7-6, 7-3
Sophomore Megan Born overtook her opponent 6-3, 2-6, 13-11 in the No. 3 spot.
“The matches were very close,” Dahl said of Saturday morning’s singles matches. “They were exciting to play and to watch.”
Eau Claire also picked up wins in No. 4 and No. 5 singles against St. Ben’s by the performances of senior Erin Welch and freshman Taylor Heltne. In doubles competition, the duo of McCormick and Welch claimed victory from the No. 2 spot with a result of 8-2. The combination of Born and Heltne won from No. 3 with a score of 8-1.
McCormick said she was impressed by how strongly the doubles teams played against St. Benedict. The duos came out ready to play, she said.
The Lady Blugolds then travelled the nearly 100-mile distance from Sartell, Minn. to Lakeville, Minn., where they faced St. Catherine University. Against the Wildcats, the Blugolds again won by taking five matches in singles competition and two in doubles. Eau Claire won more decisively, with only two matches coming down to the third set. Of those two, Born again won from the No. 3 spot, this time with results of 7-5, 1-6 and 10-4.
Saturday’s matches were the first time the team had competed since finishing third in the WIAC championship in October. Monson said one of the major changes for the team since then was the loss of freshman Jillian Horner, who transferred schools. Horner frequently played in the No. 5 singles spot, but Monson said he was impressed with how Heltne had transitioned to the new role.
“She played some really smart, really good tennis,” Monson said of Heltne’s performance last weekend.
Next on the schedule for the Blugolds is a series of matches over spring break. The women will play in five matches between March 28 and April 1 in Orlando, Fla.
McCormick said the quick start to the spring season may help the team get ready for the Florida matches.
“We definitely started out strong,” she said. “It’s a good confidence booster, especially before our trip coming up.”
During past spring break trips, the team has faced close and intense competition, McCormick said. To prepare for the events, she said, the team has been practicing especially hard.
“We’ve had some pretty intense practices,” she said. “We’ve been focused and kicked up the conditioning,” which, she said, helps the players when they play multiple events a day.
Monson agreed that having so many matches in a short period of time would improve the team’s endurance.
“The expectation is to go down there and keep playing, keep getting better,” he said.
Dahl said she was looking forward to the matches in Florida.
“I think we were all re-energized again and pumped for the spring break matches,” she said, adding it would be fun to face teams from out of the area. “It’s exciting to have a fresh new look at teams. In a way, it takes the pressure off.”
