Written by Miguel Mendez
The Colorado College women’s tennis team traveled to Texas over seventh Block Break to take on Southwestern University and Schreiner University. The Tigers were also scheduled to play Texas Lutheran but the match was cancelled due to rain. It was a mixed trip for the Tigers. CC lost its first matchup against Southwestern with a score of 6-3, then came back to dominate Schreiner University 8-1.
CC and Southwestern were closely matched in the beginning. CC continued their strong doubles play as they won two out of three matches. Sophomore Fiona Cerf and first-year Kendall McGinnis dominated their doubles match as they won 8-1 against Southwestern’s Anna Schneemann and Emilie Moeller. Freshmen Simone Hall and Annie Zlevor were also able to pull out a narrow win in their doubles match with a score of 8-6. The Tigers had a 2-1 lead going into singles play but were unable to capitalize on their lead. McGinnis won the lone point for the Tigers in singles play. CC lost as they dropped five out of six points in singles play.
“Our one and two doubles have spent a lot of time together so knowing what your partner is doing is really helpful,” said first-year Madi Doerre. “Three doubles has switched around a little bit but it is getting stronger which is looking really positive for conference this weekend.”
“Our number 4 [Madi Doerre] was injured and not in the lineup so we had to switch up the lineup,” said Assistant Coach Ilona Wilson. “That made a difference but I think we can come back and win with our normal lineup.”
The Tigers played Schreiner the next day and they were determined to get back into winning form. CC once again took control in doubles, taking two out of the three points. Cerf and Zlevor won their matchup as did junior Maddie Cahill-Sanidas and sophomore Natalia Dellavalle. What made the difference in the Schreiner match were the singles. Unlike the match against Southwestern, the Tigers played extremely well in singles and swept all six points to win 8-1.
“We were the stronger team from one to six in singles,” said Wilson. “This made a big difference. Southwestern is definitely our biggest competition right now.”
The Tigers are traveling back to Texas this weekend as the SCAC championships approach. They will be looking to perform better against Southwestern as well as the rest of the conference.
“It’s tough because we do have to travel back to Texas,” said Wilson. “We are just trying to stay in shape and hit as many balls as we can. It’s hard with the weather this week but everyone is doing well and working really hard.”
The Tigers made it to the final of the SCAC championships in 2015 but lost to Trinity University. This year, the Tigers are looking to outperform their previous run and win the SCAC championships in order to get a bid for the NCAA tournament.
“We know we can perform well and beat our competition,” said Wilson. “Our performance in doubles will really help us out and allow us to relax in singles.”
“We’ve been hitting a lot of balls and making sure we have our strokes down,” said Doerre. “We’re making sure we don’t wear our body out, and just being ready to be on top of our game this weekend.”
The Tigers are ranked third behind Trinity and Southwestern. CC will begin their tournament run against sixth-ranked Austin College on Friday, April 22. If the Tigers win, they will play the winner of the Southwestern and Centenary matchup on Saturday. Barring an upset, the Tigers will get their opportunity for a rematch with Southwestern.