The Waynesburg University women’s tennis team hosted conference opponent, Westminster College  on Tuesday, Sept. 19. The Yellow Jackets competed hard, but the match was won by the Westminster College Titans  8-1. 

The match began with three doubles matches all falling in favor of Westminster. First doubles Julia Corey and Julia Luzar lost 8-0 against Gia Francisco and Christine Rossi of Westminster. Second doubles for the Yellow Jackets Karly Starcher and Claire Lace lost 8-0 to Emma Overlingas and Taylor Dlugozima. Third doubles Alli Bailey and Aubrey Burns fell short 8-0 against Morgan Allen and Grace Askey. 

Shortly after, the singles matches began. First singles Corey lost in two sets 6-0, 6-0 to Gia Francisco. Second singles Starcher competed hard but fell short 6-1, 6-0 to Ryleigh Valone. Third singles Luzar played hard but came up short 6-1, 6-1 in two sets to Caroline Fox. Fourth singles Bailey and fifth singles Lace lost to their respective opponents 6-0, 6-0 in two sets. 

As for the sixth singles, Aubrey Burns picked up the hard fought victory 6-3, 7-5 against Ally Zervanos in two sets. After the match, Head Coach Randy Petit commented on Burns’s win by stating that he was happy to see her, “Dig deep after falling behind in the second set.” After asking Burns about the advantage she had over her opponent she stated, “I think my biggest advantage was my attitude and just having fun with the sport.” 

Being that it had been 11 days since their last match, Petit stated that the team,“Looked flat in doubles but they showed higher effort in singles.” Petit was pleased to see the singles compete so well coming off the long stretch and not giving in easily. Starcher stated, “I was happy to see myself improve and score, especially against opponents who have more experience than me. I was also happy to see myself change mentally during the game in a positive light.”

Before their next match Petit would like to see the team get better at, “consistency” and also, “not give up any free points.” As for Burns, she stated, “Since I’m new to tennis I think the biggest improvement I can make is trying to get the job done faster. Nearing the end of the match I was exhausted, so I had to dig deep for the energy to continue.” 

The team has four matches in five days coming up and Petit commented on how the team will not burn out during that time by stating, “They need to stay loose and take care of themselves,” during this long stretch. He also commented on how he knows that this is the time of the year when illness and exams pop up and the athletes need to continue to take care of themselves off the court. 

Burns spoke on the long stretch ahead and she said, “I think most importantly is taking some time to rest and let my body heal. Being a two-sport athlete is demanding and now with basketball starting it’s very important for me to stay healthy to make it through both seasons.”

Waynesburg’s next match will be at home against La Roche University on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 4 p.m..