With one win and one loss under their belts so far in the month of April, UW-Eau Claire’s women’s tennis team was more than ready to put up a fight in their match against St. Olaf on April 9.

Despite showing a strong effort and some very close matches, the Blugolds lost 0-9.

The loss pushed the Blugold’s overall season record to 11-7, while St. Olaf is at 10-2 in dual competitions.

“They’re so competitive for such a young team,” Head Coach Tom Gillman said. “But sometimes the other team is better.”

Defeats such as the one the team saw on Friday had previously only occurred in two other matches, one against UW-Whitewater and a previous game against St. Olaf, Coach Gillman said.

“We’re a very good team. But I told them, looking at their age and experience level, that really this (losing) should have happened more often.”

Despite losing each match, there were some close battles.

Freshman Gretchen Bachmeier, who plays No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles, said that a highlight of the match was her doubles game. Bachmeier played alongside teammate Mary Frassetto, a freshman.

“Mary and I just started playing together this year. For us still learning, at times we showed very good potential,” Bachmeier said.

Bachmeier and Frassetto lost their doubles match 8-4 to St. Olaf’s Caitlin Harper and Claire Carlson. But ultimately, Bachmeier said it was a great match because of the teamwork show by Frassetto and herself.

“We’ve been working on our communication with each other,” Bachmeier said. “I think it’s getting really strong. We rely on each other rather than just relying on ourselves. It’s great to see us working on that and improving.”

When it came to her singles match, Bachmeier said that despite losing the match 7-6, 6-1, she was happy with her first set against St. Olaf’s Harper, whom Bachmeier noted had a “really strong forehand” that proved difficult to beat.

Another strong match was seen from freshman Lexi DeMario.

DeMario, who plays in the No. 6 spot in singles, put up a tough fight against St. Olaf’s Sarah Magnuson. Although she lost the first set 6-0, DeMario won her second set 6-2. This led DeMario and her opponent into a super-tiebreaker, a part of the game that DeMario said she doesn’t mind.

“After the first set, I figured out her game and played my game,” DeMario said. “With tiebreakers, it’s a different mindset. You want to make the points last, and I always want to make my opponent make mistakes and take advantage of that.”

In this third set, DeMario ultimately fell 10-2.

Even though the match against St. Olaf resulted in a loss, the team is more than happy to continue working on executing the things they are doing in practice, Bachmeier said.
“We’re a very small team with only eight individuals, but we have such a great team culture,” Bachmeier said. “It’s really a pleasure to be a part of this team. It may sound cliché, but it really is … They’re amazing girls.”

The next stop for the team is River Falls where they will face UW-River Falls on April 21.

Bachmeier said she hopes the match will end in a Blugold victory.

“Our team always has to come ready to play,” she said. “If we bring our game and play to our potential, it will be a good match.”