UW-Eau Claire women’s tennis took a trip down to Iowa on April 12-13, where they faced Central College and Grinnell College. The Blugolds entered their match against Central with a 11-8 record and 3 match winning streak.
The Blugolds defeated Central in all nine matches, taking home the win 7-0. Central failed to win more than 2 games in a match set with the Blugolds outscoring Central 72-8 in games.
Head coach Ken Cychosz discussed the team’s performance in their singles matches that earned them six points.
“They just got on top right away,” Cychosz said. “We were making shots all across the board and because of our efficiency it certainly made it look easier than it was.”
The Blugolds received winning performances from newcomers No.3 single Beatriz Felchak and No.5 single Aubrey Wittwer. Wittwer’s appearance on Saturday was her first since Feb 15 against Bethel University, where she fell in her lone appearance of the season.
With the 6-1, 6-1 win on Saturday, Wittwer notched the first win of her Collegiate career.
For doubles, fourth-year Samantha Fuchs and third-year Anna Lee secured a doubles 1 victory, winning the match 6-1. In Pelle, Iowa where the Blugolds took on Central, the max wind speed of the day was 31 miles per hour.
Having to adapt to the wind was a priority for Fuchs on Saturday with the windy conditions.
“Being able to adapt to the tennis balls since we haven’t played any matches outside since the fall,” Fuchs said. “I had a good variety of shots and I was just able to kind of adapt to that wind.”
To complete the clean sweep, No.2 doubles partners fourth-year Morgan Dekan and Felchak won their match 6-2, and doubles No.3 partners fourth-year Tea Armstrong and third-year Liv Herzog won their match 6-1.
The team switched doubles partners three weeks ago, and since then the Blugolds have “made a significant improvement in our doubles game,” Cychosz said.
With the win over Central and a four-game winning streak, the Blugolds on Sunday, April 13, took on No.41 ranked Grinnell College. Grinnell entered the match with a 15-7 record and 4-0 record at home.
Fuchs and Lee carried their strong play into Sunday with a 6-2 victory. With there being no advantage points to finish out sets in collegiate tennis, the winner is decided after the result of deuce point.
Earlier in the match, the duo lost deuce point on a return, but won the match off of deuce point. That factor added an edge to the game that Fuchs was able to play off of.
“Having that added pressure that if you lose that point, that’s game,” Fuchs said.
Grinnell swept the Blugolds in all six single matches, with three of those matches reaching three sets. Lee won her first set 6-3, but dropped the last two, falling to Grinnell’s Lilly Perrin.
Alongside Lee, Herzog also won her first set 6-3, but wasn’t able to close out the match and lost her second set 5-7, and ultimately lost the tiebreaker.
With the Blugolds split over the weekend and key performances from Fuchs and Lee, Cychosz knows that the program has the skill and ability to compete but knows what needs to happen in order for the team to compete for championships.
“At this point in time it’s our ability to become a champion in our championship matches,” Cychosz said. “It’s not forehands and backhands or serves, it’s our ability to compete at the most critical levels to win a title.”
The Blugolds will compete for a WIAC title in Whitewater Saturday, April 26.
Benes can be reached at [email protected].
