Tennis season a marathon, not a sprint

By Anthony Bonagura
Collegian Reporter
September 20, 2006

Starting the season off 1-1 is not bad, especially because the La Salle women’s tennis team will be breaking out the tennis rackets every day well into late April.

Over the span of the 2006-2007 season, the women’s tennis team will compete in 23 individual matches. They have played two already, having lost to Lafayette and beaten West Chester.

The women's team is looking to finish above .500 this year. - Mark Del Monaco

“It is definitely a long season, but the expectations are to have an over-.500 record and to see improvement from each player,” co-head coach Ed Colfer said.

La Salle was able to get the win on Sunday, after defeating West Chester 5-2. La Salle won the first five singles matches, which spelled out the victory. The West Chester Golden Rams did get one point each for the final singles match and the doubles match, which ended by default, after La Salle locked up the win.

Two standouts on Sunday were freshmen Rachael Barnhart and Mary Hardiman, who both took their individual singles matches. Barnhart defeated Katie Edwards of West Chester, 6-2, 6-4, while Hardiman followed up with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Rose Conwell. The head coach knows that Barnhart and Hardiman will be important contributors.

“A lot of responsibility will be placed on them, taking into account that they are the three and four spot. We, the team, look forward to many victories over the next four years with these two players on the roster,” Colfer said.

This is La Salle ’s first win of the season, but there is no time to sit back and reminisce on it. Over the course of the next few weeks, La Salle will be matching up with Saint Joseph’s, Rhode Island and Villanova. Fortunately for the women of Olney Ave., their first away game isn’t until Oct. 11, when they will travel to the University of the Sciences. Until then, they will be playing their matches at home.

So the Explorers now have one win under their belt, but with the development that is sure to come with the younger players, plenty more “W’s” will be going into thewin column.

bonaguraa1@lasalle.edu