Women's tennis gets a win and a loss, men fall twice

By Mike McDonald
Collegian Editor
March 28, 2007

Both La Salle tennis teams made the trip to North Jersey Saturday afternoon to play Elizabethtown, but some foul weather decided to come along as well. Because of the conditions, most of the competition was moved indoors, and the teams were able to complete the matches at the indoor facility.

On the women’s side, one match took place outdoors, as Elizabethtown’s Heather Lander defeated La Salle’s Tasha Deneen, 6-0, 6-0. All the rest of the women’s matches took place indoors and used Pro Sets to eight games to determine the winners.

Three Explorer women were able to grab singles wins, as sophomore Lauren Perry, freshman Rachel Barnhart and freshman Mary Hardiman each won their respective singles matches. It came down to the doubles competition, and Elizabethtown outlasted La Salle, 2-1. This gave Elizabethtown the overall victory, with a final score of 5-4. Division III scoring was used to score the match.

The entire men’s competition took place indoors, with all of the matches using Pro Sets to eight games.

Only two of the Explorer men were able to win their singles matches. Freshmen Matt Rivera and Jonathan Maula picked up singles victories. Two of the three La Salle doubles teams defeated their opponents, but it was not enough. Elizabethtown knocked off the Explorers, 5-4.

On Sunday, the tennis teams parted ways, as the men’s team traveled to the Bronx to play Fordham and the women’s squad stayed home to face off against Cheyney.

The women’s team was flat-out dominant Sunday afternoon at Belfield Courts against the Cheyney Wolves. In fact, they did not give up a point all day. La Salle won the match, 7-0, as senior Joann Lee, Perry, Hardiman, Barnhart, sophomore Victoria Ridge and Deneen all won their matches, 6-0, 6-0.

The doubles competition was no different, as each La Salle doubles pairing was victorious by a score of 8-0.

The men had a tougher time at Fordham. Once again, it was only Rivera and Maula that were able to pick up singles wins. La Salle was able to secure the doubles point, making the final score Fordham 4, La Salle 3.

Both teams are rolling on toward the Atlantic 10 Championships. The men’s Championships take place on April 5, and the women’s Championships will happen on April 20.

After the 1-1 week, the women’s record moved to 5-6 on the season. After their two losses, the men fell to 7-8 on the year. Both teams will have their next match on Saturday at home. The women will play against the Morgan State Bears, while the men will square off against the Saint Louis Billikens.

mcdonaldm2@lasalle.edu