Women's tennis battles at A-10s

By Amanda King
Collegian Staff
April 26, 2006

The women’s tennis team closed out the season with a win over the Saint Joseph’s Hawks to secure thirteenth place at the Atlantic 10 Championships this past weekend in Monroeville, Pa.

“As far as the St. Joe’s match goes, we waited a long time to play, but everyone ended up playing really well,” senior Dana Koch said.

Leading up to the Saint Joseph’s match, the team faced off against the University of Massachusetts, the tournament’s number four seed. The Minutemen won four of the singles matches to win the match.

“Massachusetts won four of the singles matches, and once any team wins four matches, it is impossible for the other team to win, so they called the match,” freshman Lauren Perry said.

Perry was playing well against her opponent when the match was called; she was leading the set 6-5. “I felt really good because I was facing off against a player who was on a team that was seeded fourth,” Perry said.

After a loss to the Minutemen, the team went on to face off against the University of Rhode Island. The Explorers fared the same against the Rams as they did against the Minutemen; the Rams won four singles matches, so the match was called.

This led the Explorer women to their final opponent, the dreaded Saint Joseph’s Hawks. This season the Hawks were seeded 12th in the tournament, but were playing the La Salle women for the 13th spot.

This time around was different for the Explorers. The team went on to win 4-1. Winning her match was junior Joann Lee, who defeated Nicole Morrision 6-0, 6-2. Then Perry defeated Jessica Swanderski 6-1, 6-4. Sophomore Martha Kutteh defeated Krysta Contion 7-5, 6-0. Lastly, sophomore Krista Bendette defeated Reshma Moorthy 6-4, 7-5. However, during Koch’s match against Erika Guers, the match was called, as the Explorers had already won four singles matches.

“It feels really good that we finally beat St. Joe’s,” Koch said. “For me and Courtney, we haven’t beaten them ever, so beating them in our last match senior year was a great outcome.”

With the Atlantic 10 Championships now behind them, the girls look forward to next year’s season.

“With the incoming of a few good freshmen, I think we’ll do really good next year,” Perry said. “I’m hoping we’ll do a lot better in the A-10 tournament.”

kinga3@lasalle.edu