Olson Courts, 09/05/09
Posted: 09/06/09

The UW-Eau Claire women’s tennis team came away with an 8-1 win against St. Norbert College at the season opener Saturday at Olson Courts outside McPhee Center.

“Everybody came to play today,” head coach Craig Monson said. “We’ve got a deep team, and I think everybody showed they want to make a mark on this team.”

Eighty-degree weather and clear skies graced the courts as senior doubles partners Gina Dahl and Courtney Lynne defeated St. Norbert’s senior Lauren Post and sophomore Kelly Van Handel 8-4.

“Gina and I had a lot of really good rallies, and our ground strokes were actually sensational,” Lynne said.

She added that having this first win is a good boost of confidence for the team, especially for the freshman players on the team.

Dahl went on to lose the No. 1 singles competition 6-4, 6-1 against Post in one of the most intense matches of the day.

“The first match of the season is always a little rough to get back in the groove,” Dahl said. “I wish I was able to make less errors and have some longer rallies.”

She said it was a good warm-up match because St. Norbert College is not in Eau Claire’s conference.

Senior Erin Welch won a singles match against St. Norbert senior Allyson Yankle, giving up no games during the second set.

Winning 6-3, 6-3, senior Brenna McCormick defeated Van Handel in a singles match.

Monson said his strategy for the rest of the season is to work on the team’s consistency and on plays with short balls.

The Blugolds will play Luther College (Iowa) next weekend, which Monson said is one of their main non-conference rivals.

“That’s a really good test for us,” he said.

Also up for the Blugolds next weekend are matches with Wartburg (Iowa) and Cornell College (Iowa).