For the women’s tennis team, it is all about finding the positives that can be taken from the 9-0 loss in which they suffered to Westminster on Monday.

Junior Noelle Hughes believes the team keeps a positive mindset even when the matches get tough.

“Westminster is a really good team,” said Hughes.  “They are probably going to finish second or third in our conference.  I thought we stayed positive throughout the match and fought hard.”

Hughes feels that some of the stuff that they have been working on in practice started to show in the match and hopes it will carry over into future matches.

“Coach is always encouraging us to mix our shots up,” said Hughes. “Different things like drop shots, angles and coming to the net will help us all improve our games. Personally, he’s been working with me on serving the ball harder and I was pleased with how I did that today.”

Head coach Ron Headlee was pleased with the effort that his players put forth in the match.

“We played some really good games,” said Headlee. “There were a lot of deuce points and we just couldn’t get an add to go our way.”

Headlee said that going into this match against a tough Westminster squad his goal was to win at least 5 games and his team did just that.

Sophomore Lauren Wadsworth took two games in the five spot but lost in straight sets 6-1, 6-1.  Hughes took multiple games in each set falling 6-2, 6-2.

Even in defeat, Headlee saw some positive takeaways for all of the women on the team, including consistency and shot placement.

“We are definitely getting more consistent and that’s what we have to be,” said Headlee. “We are having longer rallies and hanging in points longer. We are still making some mistakes that you can’t make against the better teams. We are trying to place our shots a little better and move our opponents and get them out of their comfort zones.”

Hughes said that staying positive and moving on to the next match is a good way to approach the current state of the tennis team.

“Tennis is really a mental game,” she said. “I missed some shots today in my doubles match, but what I liked was I put those behind me and tried to improve in my singles match. You can’t dwell on negative things. You have to have a good mindset.”

A positive attitude and a good mindset is one of the reasons Hughes was named a co-captain by coach Headlee, the other captain being fellow junior Sierra Stevens.

“They are both juniors and show great leadership for our young team,” said Headlee. “The best thing about this group is they never quit.  Each time out I can see improvement and when you keep improving you will start to see better results.”

The Yellow Jackets return to action Monday at 4 p.m. for a home conference match against Bethany.