By Anthony DiFilippo

From September 10, 2022

CRESSON, Pa. (Sept. 10)- The Waynesburg University’s women’s tennis team faced off against Mount Aloysius on Saturday afternoon.

The Yellow Jackets (0-2, 0-1) fell to the Mounties (1-0, 0-0) 6-3 at the Ebensburg Tennis Center. 

Waynesburg’s number three doubles pairing of Marley Wolf and Zoie Smith defeated their opponents. Hayley Sweeney and Wolf, the team’s number one and number five singles players,  beat their counterparts, respectively. 

These were Wolf’s first wins of the season, as she lost both of her matchups against Saint Vincent the first time around. The same goes for Sweeney, who did not win a set against Saint Vincent’s number-one player, Carolina Walters. 

Head Coach L. Randy Pettit talked about how Wolf’s competitiveness leads to her success on the court. 

“Marley is such a competitor,” Pettit said. “Her game continues to improve, and she is having a lot of fun out there. She and Zoie paired up nicely as well.”

Although the team ended up with a loss, Pettit still sees improvement in his first season as interim head coach. The Yellow Jackets finished 0-10 last year.

“It was nice seeing the overall improvement from the whole team over the course of the last week,” Pettit said. “We have some girls that are new to the sport, and they are all really working hard. Hayley was able to respond with a nice singles win. She played really well.”

Next up is a Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) opponent in Thiel College. 

The Tomcats beat Waynesburg 6-2 in their Oct. 7 matchup last season. Pettit is hoping to see continued progress out of his team with every set they play. 

“I just want to see the girls continue to improve,” Pettit said. “They are working hard, and we’re looking forward to our first two home matches this week.”

The team will play its first home match of the season Thursday, Sept. 18 against Thiel. The match starts at 3:30 p.m.