The USM women’s tennis team took on Colby-Sawyer College this past Thursday in a non-conference match in Gorham that ended in defeat for the Huskies. The Chargers played tough throughout the match, beating the Huskies by a 7-2 margin.
Last season the Huskies defeated the Chargers 5-4, but this year experience was on the Charger’s side.
“They are a tough team,” said Coach Wayne St. Peter. “We’re a young group, they have more experience than we do.”
USM was able to pull out two victories in the match with junior Katie Welch (Calais, ME) winning her number one singles match by default. In a grueling overtime battle, junior Emily Straubel (Littleton, MA) captured a win for the Huskies after splitting sets and overcoming her opponent in the tiebreaker.
The outcome of the match was not in the favor of the Huskies, but they still see a lot of positives for the team.
Welch, the team’s captain, said she has seen “great improvement in the younger girls every match.”
In conference play for USM, the team’s number one doubles team comprised of Welch and junior Catie McCarthy (Newport, VT) remain undefeated. Though they fell short of victory in their match against the Chargers, the Huskies held their own as their team rallied back against their opposition.
At one point in their match, Welch and McCarthy clashed rackets dashing for the ball but still succeeded in claiming the point. Welch laughed at the play, taking her focus off the loss and concentrating on the positives.
“We had a lot of good points in our match,” said Welch of the defeat.
The loss leaves the team with a record of 1-8 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
“We need to step it up,” said Welch.