Coming off a weekend where some weaknesses were exposed in the first two losses of the season, UW-Eau Claire women’s tennis head coach Tom Gillman was looking for his team to correct the little things.

Midway through the ITA tournament, held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Gustavus Adolphus University (Minn.), Gillman saw things come together for his Blugolds.

“About halfway through, we finally started locking into what could lead us in a better direction,” Gillman said. “I left the tournament with a very satisfied feeling.”

Several players on the roster gave Gillman reason to be happy. In a tournament that includes more tennis than usual competition, the Blugolds got a consolation championship from their top doubles pair in Katie Gillman, a senior, and Maddie Johnson, a junior.

After falling in their opening match, Katie Gillman and Johnson rattled off five straight victories to take the consolation bracket and improve their season record to 8-3 together.

“Katie and Maddie aren’t angry types,” Tom Gillman said about Katie Gillman and Johnson responding from their second round loss. “We’re really excited the way they are playing and their last match was the best.”

Individually speaking, the Blugolds got runner-up finishes from two underclassmen in what Tom Gillman calls a very young team.

Sophomore Colleen McCullough, playing out of the No. 2 singles spot, came extremely close to gold after losing a thrilling championship match. She won the first set 6-3, but then fell 6-4 in the second and lost a super tiebreaker in the third and final set, 10-6.  She cruised her way to the championship match, losing just six games total in three matches.

McCullough, now sporting a 6-3 record on the year, said she was still pleased with her play despite falling just short of the championship.

“Getting to the finals was my goal,” McCullough said.  “I wish it ended a little differently, I was still pretty happy with this past weekend.”

Joining McCullough with a runner-up finish was freshman Amy Orthaus.  Tom Gillman said Orthaus has fallen under the radar all year long and that he wasn’t surprised to see her advance all the way to the title match.

“Sometimes, when freshman are in more of a developmental mode in your program, they can easily be forgotten,” Gillman said.  “Amy’s been very effective for us. She’s very sneaky as a player.  It was not a surprise that she was irritating to play, in a good way.”

Like McCullough, Orthaus was also involved in a thrilling, overtime match.  Her match, however, was in the semifinals. She won the first set of that match 6-4, but then lost the second set 0-6. She bounced back to win the third one 10-7.

“Bouncing back from the losing the second set (0-6) was really hard,” Orthaus said. “I just kept moving forward and making the shots I used in the first set to help me win that. That’s what got me through the tiebreaker was staying mentally strong.”

The Blugolds will get a weekend off after playing for four straight.  Orthaus said the team will enjoy the break and use it to regroup and recover, but the wear and tear and the ITA tournament was a good test to figure out how to push forward.

“It really proves a lot to what kind of player you are that even when you’re tired, you can handle the long matches,” Orthaus. “Not so much thinking about the physical aspect, but staying positive.”

The Blugolds resume action Friday, Oct. 4 at UW-Stevens Point.