Women’s Tennis Fall Summary 

 

The Royals team competed in 4 dual matches this fall ending with a 3-1 record. The highlights of the dual match season came with winning for the first time in program history against Covenant College and taking both matches on our yearly Indiana road trip defeating IU Southeast 7-0 and Hanover College 6-1. The Royals also dropped a match against Midway University 5-2 after losing 3 matches in tie-breaks. In addition to the dual match portion of the fall season, the Royals also competed in the ITA Regional Tournament at Georgetown College and the Maryville College Invitational. 

 

Throughout the fall, the success of the Royals this fall all started on the doubles courts where all 6 of the regular doubles players had winning records. The pairs of Isabella Stigall/ Maria Gracia Ponce and Marina Lasneaux/ Paola Testa led the way with 5 victories each with the pair of Berkley Clark and Caroline Rhoton close behind with 4. The singles court also saw a handful of successes, led by Testa and Ponce with 6 wins and followed by Clark with 5 wins. 

 

The spring for the Royals will feature a handful of freshmen mixed with a trio of returning players from last year's playing roster. The returning players will feature senior Paola Testa, junior Caroline Rhoton, and freshman Isabella Stigall who were all prominently featured in last year's line-up with the trio competing in every dual match. Five freshmen will make up the rest of the lineup, players Marina Lasneaux, Maria Gracia Ponce, Berkley Clark, Connleigh Irwin, and Carson Young.  

 

Coach Hale previewed the season saying, "We had a great fall, probably one of the most successful we have ever had and I'm excited to build on that in the spring. We looked pretty good in doubles while still having a good bit to improve on so I think we can be dangerous there. With a team so young, so much comes down to consistency and if you can maintain your mentality when things get tough. Our returning players have done that really well this fall to serve as an example and you can see the breakthroughs happening with the freshmen all throughout the fall. I'm really looking forward to what we can do in the spring!"