So far this season, the Golden Eagles have come close but have not been able to pull out the win.,”

After two losses this weekend in Columbus, Ohio, the women’s tennis team dropped to 1-7. The team lost 5-2 Friday to Ohio State and was swept Saturday by Virginia Tech.

So far this season, the Golden Eagles have come close but have not been able to pull out the win.

At first, their effort was comforting. Now, the lack of results to match that effort is getting a bit irritating.

“Everyone wants to win,” Freshman Maggie Wilson said. “At first, we were all very excited that we were so close losing 3-4 to Illinois and playing Louisville and being really close again. But now that we keep losing all of these close matches, we’re just more angry. We are frustrated, but it’s acting as motivation for us.”

Despite the losses, head coach Jody Bronson said she is pleased with the way the team played.

“I thought our matches (against Ohio State) were competitive, and I thought we were pretty aggressive,” she said. “We didn’t play afraid, thinking that we couldn’t win.

“I think everyone battled, for the most part, pretty well.”

Sophomore Robin Metzler said, “We’re playing really hard competition and we’re very close to beating them, but we’re not playing well (consistently) as a team.”

Wilson lost both of her doubles matches this weekend, first with junior Erin Watkins 8-4 against Ohio State, and again with Francina Bonnelly 8-5 against Virginia Tech.

“We’ve been competing well with the top teams,” Wilson said. “We just have to be able to convert on those crucial points to get the win.”

In order to win the doubles point, the team needs to win two of the three doubles matches. This is an area in which the Golden Eagles have struggled greatly.

Bronson said the team may “look at reshuffling a few things so we can come up with some combinations where we can win two of those three.”

Metzler agreed that some changes may be necessary.

“It’s not disappointing; it’s just frustrating. We’re right there but we never seem to be winning these matches,” she said. “We’re frustrated but almost in a good way because we’re more determined.”

Bronson said none of the players outwardly express their frustration because they know they have been playing some very difficult matches.

“I think they understand that the schedule they’ve been given is a very tough schedule to start with,” Bronson said. “We’ve played five nationally ranked teams already.

“Hopefully, when it comes around to conference time, we will be battle-ready because we’ve already had such tough competition.”

“,”Sara J. Martinez”

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