Last Thursday, women’s tennis (5-12 overall and 1-5 Patriot League) faced Holy Cross in the first round of playoffs, allowing them to move on to the quarterfinals the following day. With a total of six singles wins and another win in doubles, Lafayette won the score set 4-1.
Senior Maureen McCormack was one of the winners of the singles matches.
“We played Holy Cross in the regular season, so we knew what we needed to work on,” McCormack said. “There was a lot of emphasis on playing doubles, and a lot of practice getting points under pressure. That way when we were faced with a lot of pressure points, you would know how to overcome that challenge.”
Junior Halle DeNardo and McCormack mentioned that team bonding was also an important aspect of preparation for the tournament. Spirits were high going in, and it paid off.
“We also just spent a lot of time together as a team, whether it was on or off the court to hype us up and get into the right mindset as a team before the match,” DeNardo said. “I kept fighting my way through for the team so we could clinch the match and go on to the next round.”
McCormack successfully defeated her Holy Cross opponent in two sets, with scores of 6-2 and 6-4.
Junior Jess Siegel beat her singles opponent 6-2 and 6-1.
“[Siegel] had one of the best plays of that day,” McCormack said. “She actually clinched the match for us on line three, and that was just a really great match she was in. Just seeing her dig it out for the team was just remarkable.”
DeNardo is also partners with Siegel in doubles.
“Personally, any wins, or just playing in general, with my doubles partner Jess Siegel is memorable and I felt as though we both played really well in our doubles match against Holy Cross,” DeNardo said.
DeNardo defeated her Holy Cross opponent 2-1 in singles. In doubles, Siegel and DeNardo overcame Holy Cross 6-1.
Both DeNardo and McCormack credited freshman Olivia Boeckman, who allowed just one point over two sets. According to McCormack, Olivia had a tough match but battled hard and came out victorious in the end. Boeckman won 6-0 and 6-1 in her singles match.
“Boeckman played really hard singles and they were really hard-fought,” McCormack said. “Holy Cross came up with a really big fire and gave us a run for our money, but she dug it out for the win.”
Two other matches in the singles round were played by juniors Melanie Sparhawk and Eleanor Campbell. Sparhawk won 6-1 and 6-4. Campbell was sweeping the first match 5-0 before her opponent forfeited and posted a DNF (did not finish).
The tennis team’s season ended after the quarter-finals the following day. Lafayette faced number one seed Boston University at Lehigh’s Ulrich Varsity Tennis Courts. After losing in every set, Lafayette lost with the final score of 4-0.
The team will look toward summer training before their regular season starts this fall.