After three straight wins that occurred between Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29, the women’s tennis team fell to Gustavus Adolphus College on Monday, March 31.
In their first game, Trinity took on Schriener University and finished with a shutout victory of 9-0. Trinity won for the third time in its last four matches.
Seniors Kylie Hornbeck and Stephanie Williamson were paired in No. 1 doubles and won the match 8-2. Sophomore Kristy Hamilton and senior Kathleen Lundquist took No. 2 doubles 8-6, while sophomores Caroline White and Gabrielle Roe were 8-2 winners on the No. 3 line. Roe also now stands at 6-5 after capturing No. 4 singles 6-0 and 6-1, as well.
Hornbeck improved to a 6-5 record after winning No. 1 singles 6-1 and 6-4. Hamilton took No. 2 singles 6-1 and 7-6, while White won the No. 3 match 6-0 and 6-2.
“It was definitely great to come back after such a close loss. Those three wins really helped us to build confidence in ourselves as singles and doubles players as well as in our collective selves as a team,” Hornbeck said.
Senior Lavinia Bendandi, who has a 5-2 record this season, was victorious 6-1 and 6-4 in fifth place. Williamson held down the No. 6 match by winning 6-4 and 6-1.
Next up, the No. 28 ranked Tigers completed a sweep of victories over Hardin-Simmons University and Laredo Community College on Saturday, March 29. The Tigers kicked off the day with a shutout victory of 9-0 against Hardin-Simmons, and then closed out the day with a 7-2 win over Laredo.
Hornbeck and Williamson won the number one spot in doubles with 8-6 against the Hardin-Simmons Cowgirls, while Lundquist and Hamilton won the No. 2 line with 8-4. White and Roe blanked their opponents 8-0 and snagged the number three spot.
Hornbeck prevailed 6-4 and 6-3 at No. 1 singles, while Hamilton was a 6-0 and 6-0 winner in the second match. White took No. 3 singles 6-2 and 6-0 and Roe won 6-0 and 6-1 on the fourth line. Rounding out the singles were wins by Bendandi and first year Elena Wilson, 6-0, 6-0, and 6-4, 6-3, respectively.
Lundquist and Hamilton fell 0-8 at No. 1 doubles against the Laredo Palominos, but Williamson and Hornbeck won 8-2 in the No. 2 match. Trinity won No. 3 doubles by default.
On Monday, March 31, the women’s tennis team lost a 5-4 battle to Gustavus Adolphus College.
“Goals right now are to obviously win every conference match and the rest of our matches are here at Trinity, so this is our home stretch. We really want to prepare and get as many wins under our belt as we can in the time leading up to nationals. We want to be really efficient in our playing against the weaker teams and the best way to prepare for nationals is to just improve every day and take care of the little things,” said head coach Matthew Haugen.
Trinity led 4-2 after winning the first three singles matches of the evening, but each of the final three matches went to a third set. The Tigers were unable to hang on in the end, as Gustavus rallied for victories at lines one, five and two.
Bendandi won her opening set 6-3 during the number five singles, but then fell 1-6 and 2-6 in a match that started the singles rally for the opposing team. At the top line, Hornbeck forced a third set with a 7-5 win in the second, but lost 6-4 to tie the overall match with a score of 4-4. Hamilton also won her second set 7-5 to extend her match at the second position, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling 6-4 in the third set.
“The match on Monday is one of the main reasons we play college tennis. To fight and compete for something so hard as a team and as an individual is one of the best experiences. However, on Monday we did fall just short of one match to win, and that does sting. Nevertheless, this can only help us because it shows our improvement, but also shows what we still need to work on in order to be our very best. I’m confident that we will see the adequate adjustments and improvements that we need in our next matches,” Bendandi said.
Gustavus took the early lead in the match by clinching two of the three doubles points to start the day. White and Roe made the only points for the Tigers during the doubles matches, winning from the third position. The opposing team, however, won the next two for a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.
The team rallied with White and Roe again leading the way for the women’s team. White took a straight-set 6-4 and 6-0 win at line three, and Roe emerged as a 6-3 and 6-1 winner at No. 4. Williamson added her input at the No. 6 singles match 6-3 and 6-3 to put the Tigers up 4-2 at the time.
Trinity had its three-match winning streak snapped with the loss, and the Tigers now stand 7-7 overall this season. The Tigers return to action on Saturday, April 5 at 4:00 p.m. hosting McMurry University.
