After a weekend on the road against Wittenberg University and Ohio Wesleyan University, the Allegheny College women’s tennis team fell 1-8 to Kenyon College on April 10, giving the team a 3-10 record. The team battled its way throughout the weekend with positive attitudes, though the weather presented challenges for the Gators at Ohio Wesleyan as the match was held indoors.

“I think Saturday [April 2]showed how much spring break paid off,” said Head Coach Jared Luteran. “Wittenberg is a good team, and we dominated them.”

First-year player, Heidi Mueller, ’19, played her first official NCAC match against Wittenberg.

“Coming from spring break where we played all nationally- or regionally-ranked teams, we were finally able to see our hard work pay off, especially in doubles,” said  Mueller.

April 2 was the first win of the spring season for the women’s team. Co-captain Andrea Brush, ’16, said the win was important for the men’s and women’s teams.

“We got our first win of the spring season which was pretty exciting for both men and women,” said Brush.

The team’s spring break schedule was the toughest it had seen.

“I feel good that the tough competition made our players better,” said Luteran.

On April 3, the Gators played against Ohio Wesleyan. Kirstie Oravec, ’16, battled closely during her individual match. Oravec won in three sets and was the only one to win in singles for the team.

“Those are the exciting matches,” said Luteran. “It was a great singles win.”

The team will play six matches in the remainder of the season, leading up to the NCAC tournament on April 29.

“This weekend definitely helped build some confidence for me and I’m excited to see how our team performs for the rest of the season,” said Mueller. “The women’s team started off both matches with a lead from doubles wins, and personally, I felt that I played some of my best doubles in my college career.”

Ohio Wesleyan is an opponent the Gators are likely to see at the conference tournament at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

“I hope we play [Ohio Wesleyan] again because we played right with them,” said Luteran. “I think we can beat them next time.”

The team takes each match one by one to learn and improve for future matches. The Gators anticipate tough matches as their schedule reveals nationally-ranked teams.

“Overall I feel like our team has some good energy,” said Brush.

This weekend the team plays The College of Wooster on Saturday, April 16 at 1 p.m. in Meadville and Westminster College on Sunday, April 17 at 4 p.m. in Grove City.