After a great season for the Golden Rams, West Chester’s women’s tennis team (14-3, 5-0 PSAC East) lost Friday in the PSAC semi-finals against Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). But luck was still on the side of the Golden Rams as IUP went on to defeat Mercyhurst in the PSAC finals. This result means that WCU has the opportunity to travel to Erie for the regional championships.
The day brought up some bad memories from last year’s PSAC team championships. It was a rainy morning in Bloomsburg, same as the conditions last year that postponed match play until the following day. WCU faced the same opponent in IUP as well, who they lost to 5-0 in 2016. On the bright side, the rain ended early and the clouds parted in time for some tennis to be played.
Unfortunately, the result was the same for WCU as the Crimson Hawks blocked them again from a shot at the PSAC final, losing 5-0 again to IUP. At least this time around was more competitive for the Golden Rams.
The day began with doubles play, where Maddy Shaak and Claire Uhle played well for the Golden Rams. But the No. 5 ranked doubles team in the region ultimately were outmatched by the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the Atlantic in IUP’s Luise von Agris and Jarmila Petercakova 4-8.
The rest of the doubles ladies didn’t fare much better. Rylee Power and Gracyn Towler came up short 3-8 versus Rachel Wood and Raquel Gonzalez. At third doubles IUP’s Sophie Butland and Ekaterina Minchekova were a handful for WCU’s Steph Cifarelli and Abriana Nolan, overpowering the senior duo by a score of 8-1.
IUP then only needed two wins to move on going into singles play. They grabbed those two wins on the back end of the singles bracket. At the fifth singles court, Sophie Rathmell lost in straight sets 2-6, 1-6 against Wood. Ciffarelli suffered a tough loss at sixth singles to Butland by a score of 0-6, 1-6. The wins clinched the victory for IUP.
On the other courts that didn’t finish, there was some promise being shown for West Chester.
Shaak afterwards felt, “I played really well today so I can’t complain.”
She played very well against Von Agris in a close first set. She lost 4-6 but was tied 1-1 in the second before the match was called. It was a much better performance for Shaak compared to her last matchups against Von Agris.
In the 2016 championships she lost the first set by a wide margin of 2-6 and was already down a break in the second before the buzzer sounded. In their earlier matchup this season, Von Agris was victorious again 6-3, 6-1. So Shaak has reason to be happy with how she played.
Her doubles partner had a strong performance as well. Uhle was the lone victor in the two teams’ regular season matchup, and she proved to be a tough out again on Friday. Her first set went the distance as she took Petercakova into an unfinished tiebreaker.
Just a little over a week prior to their season’s end, the Golden Rams were doing some familiar celebrating. The team visited Millersville for their regular finale and came out with a result that was all but assured, winning 9-0 for the eighth straight perfect win of the season, and their 15th straight in conference 9-0 victory. The win gave West Chester the PSAC East crown.
Uhle and Shaak were victorious 8-3 at first doubles, Power and Towler won at second doubles 8-3, and Nolan and Cifarelli were 8-1 winners at third doubles.
Uhle, the ninth-ranked player in the region, had another straight set win at first singles, winning 6-2, 6-0.
Shaak on the other hand had some difficulty dispatching Sarah Sambrick.
The first set went as planned with a 6-3 win, only to have her early night plans derailed by Sambrick who gave her everything she could handle on her way to a lost second set 4-6. The match then went to a third set 10-point tiebreak. It was close again, but Shaak found her clutch gene and kept WCU’s perfect court record alive with a 10-7 win.
The drama was left on the second court as the rest of the Golden Rams were victorious in straight sets.
Playing Millersville was an interesting experience for WCU as they had to face a former Golden Ram in Katina Jones.
When asked how it felt to see Jones on the other side, Shaak said, “Sometimes it can be tough to come up against your friends, but ultimately we are all competitors so we looked across the net the same as any other team and played our hardest.”
Last year when the two teams played each other, a PSAC East title was on the line. This time, however, the Marauders had less to play for. But West Chester still felt they had a lot to play for.
“We always play to win, and take every match seriously. Millersville is a rival of ours so the stakes are high every time we step out on the court,” said Shaak. “All we can do is control things on our side of the net, but we try to treat every match like a title is on the line.”
With the season coming to a close, it is a time for introspection for the seniors. When asked prior to the PSAC championships what her thoughts were about her time at West Chester, Shaak was optimistic and also reflective.
“It’s been a great ride and I’ve been so fortunate to be healthy and able to compete for four years at WCU. We are the underdogs heading into playoffs, but sometimes that is a good place to be. We have nothing to lose, so we can go out there, have some fun and compete our hardest!”
For all their hard work this season they will be rewarded with a nice six hour drive to Erie for a chance at going down in West Chester history as one of the best tennis teams to walk onto south campus.
Ryan Hunt is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at RH803937@wcupa.edu.