As we approach the spring season of the year, we are now in the midst of the men’s and women’s tennis season. The men and women teams both got back on the court starting March 6 facing out of conference opponents University of Charleston, and West Liberty University.
The current men’s tennis team’s record, as of March 19, is one win and six losses. The Lady Rams have five wins and three losses. The Lady Rams past opponents were Grand Valley State University and Southeastern University, where they went 1-1 in that stretch.
In that same stretch, the men’s team was unable to capture a victory as they lost both matches in a trying effort.
Dating back to March 6 as the Lady Rams faced off against University of Charleston, Steph Cifarelli picked up West Chester’s lone win at sixth singles against Charleston in the team’s opening match of its annual spring break trip to the Sunshine State. Cifarelli was a three-set winner, 2-6, 6-2, and 7-1 in a tie-breaking format for the third set. She battled back after dropping the first set to pick up the win for West Chester.
Charleston swept all three doubles to open up a 3-0 lead. Then, they won the first five singles matches to clinch the win. The Golden Rams faced off against West Liberty University on March 6 as well. West Chester University’s men’s tennis squad was swept, 0-9, by West Liberty in the team’s first match of its annual spring break trip, as they were unable to get victories.
The next day, however, the Lady Rams were able to get back on track with a victory over Eckerd College. West Chester University’s women’s tennis squad topped host Eckerd College, 7-2, in a non-league match. They swept the doubles competition and then took three of the six singles matches to come away with the win. Lady Rams Maddy Shaak, Abriana Nolan, Alyssa Rees, and Rylee Power were all winners in singles bouts for the Rams as well. Power’s win at third singles, 6-2, 6-3 clinched the match for the visitors. Shaak dispatched her opponent at second singles, 6-1, 6-1, while Nolan was a 1-6, 6-3, 12-10 winner at fourth singles, and Rees was an 8-1 winner at fifth singles. Shaak and Claire Uhle teamed up for an 8-2 win at first doubles. Rees and Power were 8-0 winners at second doubles, while Nolan and Amalie Hartman were 8-5 winners at third doubles. Unfortunately, the men’s team could not follow along the victory path with the Lady Rams, losing to Eckerd College in a valiant effort all around. West Chester was competitive in the doubles competition, with the first team of Chris Rushing and Lucas von der Heyde eventually falling 9-8 (7-5) in a tie-breaker. The Golden Rams’ second and third doubles teams dropped 8-4 decisions as well.
Moving on down the road for the Golden Rams, we wish them the best of luck in these upcoming games as they attempt to turn their season around.
Marcelus Council-Jones is a fourth-year student. They can be reached at MC785844@wcupa.edu