The lady Huskies were an underdog going into the Little East Conference tennis tournament on Saturday, Oct 12. Their regular season record was a mediocre five wins, six losses and Plymouth State and Rhode Island both appeared to be strong favorites.
That morning it was raining and the games were re-scheduled for inside play at the Boston Athletic Club. The team loaded onto the bus and got lost in Boston searching for the place. They arrived, however, and dominated the tournament by an unpredictable landslide.
“I was extremely surprised that we won by the score that we did,” said Wayne St. Peter, women’s tennis coach. “We were a long shot going in. I had no doubt that we could win by the skin of our teeth if matches between Plymouth and Rhode Island State came out in our favor.”
Emily Jose and Meagan Allyn in the first match of the day set the precedent for a courageous afternoon of overcoming the odds. Jose and Allyn were down in the third set and came back to win over Rhode Island State in the semi-final round.
“If they wouldn’t have won that match,” said St. Peter, “the day might have turned out differently. It was a great boost for our team.”
Four out of the seven championship matches that USM won were come-from-behind victories. The team won seven out of the possible nine championship matches, completely dominating the field – a total team effort.
It may have been an advantage for them to play inside, so the rain may have been the savior. The team practices inside all season because they have no outdoor facilities on the USM campus. Home games are either played at Gorham High School, Deering Oaks Park, or inside the field house.
Maybe the confusion and move across town during the rain gave the team an advantage, because they were used to this type of thing. Or maybe they came together on the last day of the season and simply played outstanding tennis to take home the championship.