By TORI ADDISON
Staff Writer
The Women’s Tennis team took on two matches this past weekend, one on Friday and the other on Saturday. Friday pitted the Golden Knights against Saint Thomas Aquinas while Saturday they faced Merrimack. The team held a record of 0-1 going into the matches as they suffered their first loss to Russell Sage College on Monday, September 23rd.
Being his first year as head coach, Greg Roman had not seen the girls compete in an actual match until their initial one at Russell Sage. “Every match is going to be a battle. Being the new coach, I hadn’t seen our ladies compete in a match until Monday, nor have I seen any of the schools before,” he continued to say, “All I have to go on are year’s past matches. And that is not who we are. We are much more focused, competitive and strategic than before.” Coach Roman gathered that doubles were the main cause of concern after stepping away from the team’s first loss. His expectations for both matches in the approaching weekend were high as he said, “We had great practices after the loss in preparation for this coming weekend. We were so close to winning. We were in every match; we just needed that “little extra” to close it out. I am confident we will get there. We are looking forward to this weekend and showing what we are made of.”
Friday’s match ended with a loss for Saint Rose. Their opponents, Saint Thomas Aquinas, beat the Knights 8-1 in a non-conference match. It was sophomore Paige Southwick that handed Saint Rose their only win of the day in the first flight singles competition. Saturday did not leave the team in a much better state. Conference competition Merrimack College ended up slaying the Knights 9-0. Sophomore Paige Southwick continued to fight for the team as her and freshman Gabriella Pizzanelli earned two points in the first doubles flight. Unfortunately, the pair would come up short, ending with a final game record of 8-2. The singles matches did not fare much better as Merrimack players held Saint Rose to no more than one point per match. The upcoming home opener will be held on Sunday, October 6th. Hopefully, the comfort of playing on familiar ground will point the team towards victory.
