For Waynesburg University women’s tennis, this season started similar to its predecessor.

The Yellow Jackets started the 2018-19 campaign with a win over Pitt-Greensburg, and this past Saturday, started their 2019-20 season likewise.

Last year, Waynesburg couldn’t use its win over the Bobcats as a diving board to jump into the waters of success. The Jackets lost their next three matches by a combined total of 27 sets to one, and finished with a record of 2-9. The team is picked to finish last in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference preseason poll.  

Although recent history isn’t on his side, there’s a reason for fourth-year head coach Ron Headlee to be optimistic.

For starters, Waynesburg’s opening day win was much more convincing this season. The Jackets beat the Bobcats 8-1, compared to a 5-4 squeaker last season. Aside from that, Headlee is excited about how the team performed throughout summer training, as well as an increase in depth from previous years.

“We’ve had a good camp,” Headlee said. “I think we’ve gotten a little bit more depth on our team this year, and two freshmen being in the lineup, I was excited to see how they would play. I think they’d feel a little bit nervous the first match, but they responded really well.”

The Yellow Jackets have 13 players on the roster, up from 10 last season. The two freshmen that started for Waynesburg Saturday were Madison Trent and Hayley Sweeney. Trent in particular was impressive, picking up wins in both singles and doubles, where she was paired with sophomore Kyleigh Schmidt. Trent and Schmidt beat Miranda Berkebile and Kelsey Murphy, of UPG, 8-6 in No. 1 doubles. Individually, Trent beat Murphy in No. 2 singles, 7-6, and, 6-3.

The other freshman, Sweeney, took care of Alycia Zummo, 6-1, 6-2. Sweeney paired with Sierra Stevens for a doubles win over Zummo and Xiangting Tang, 8-1.

The team of Noelle Hughes and Lauren Wadsworth picked up a win to complete a clean sweep in doubles. Hughes, Wadsworth and Stevens were also victorious in their singles matches.

The Yellow Jackets’ only blemish on the afternoon came in their first singles match. Schmidt fell to Berkebile in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Headlee hopes his top player will improve as the season heats up.

“I thought she could have played a little bit better,” he said. “I’m looking for her to be a little bit more consistent. I thought she could have won.”

Despite the commanding win, Headlee saw some things on the court that need to be improved for Waynesburg to surprise people in the PAC.

“We still need to be a little bit more confidence in our shots and be able to put balls away. We’re still not doing that the way we need to.” Headlee said.

The Yellow Jackets will open their PAC season Thursday, Sept. 12 at Westminster, who is picked to finish second behind Grove City in the conference’s preseason poll. Headlee is well aware of the challenge that lies ahead.

“They’ll be tough,” he said. “Westminster I think is probably one of the top three teams in the conference. It’s probably them, [Washington & Jefferson] and Grove City I’d say are the top three. [The Westminster match] will at least give us a good look where we’re at and how to improve.”