| Winona Lake, IN — Battling both Grace College and gusty winds, the Goshen College women’s tennis team dropped a 3-6 decision to the host Lancers Tuesday afternoon, dropping its second Mid-Central Conference decision in as many outings.
The loss was Goshen’s second to Grace in the last seven years, while the Lancers have slowly made up ground on what is traditionally a Goshen-stronghold: After defeating Grace by either 9-0 or 8-1 scores from 2001-2004, Goshen has now dropped two of its last three conference meetings with Grace, with the teams splitting 5-4 scores over the past two years.
“We had many opportunities to make this match a win, but our singles let us down this afternoon,” said Sarah Yoder, Goshen head coach. “It certainly wasn’t from a lack of effort, though.”
A Goshen loss seemed unlikely at the match’s outset, as the Leafs took two of three hard-fought doubles decisions. Freshmen Rachel Lanctot and Alyssa Dewing captured an 8-6 at the number two flight while seniors Diana Diaz and Laurelyn Foderaro scored an 8-7 (7-4) victory at number one, putting Yoder’s squad in the driver’s seat heading into singles play.
Unfortunately for Goshen, Grace was able to notch five of the six singles slots for points, running away late with the team win.
“We started the afternoon so strong,” Yoder said. “Rachel and Alyssa got another chance to play a team they went 1-1 with in our doubles tournament (click here for related article) and they were pumped for a chance to avenge one of their losses. They got a large amount of first serves in play and were aggressive at the net looking for opportunities to put the ball away. With the gusting winds blowing tennis balls all over the court, they played very smart, looking for every opportunity available to move into the net and take balls early.
“Diana and Laurelyn also had a great win,” she continued. “They were able to hold their services games fairly easily, by getting a lot of solid first serves in play, but had trouble breaking their opponents serves. Both teams went back and forth until a tie-breaker at 7-7. Diana and Laurel dialed in right away and stayed aggressive at the baseline and the net. They soon found themselves up 4-1 and proceeded to use that momentum to close out 7-4.”
It was Foderaro that was the only Goshen player to capitalize off that push in singles play, however, defeating Grace’s Kyla Zenan by a 6-3, 6-0 score in number two singles action. Only two Goshen players — Lanctot at number three and Dewing at number five — were able to force their respective singles matches into three-set issues. Grace rolled to straight-set wins at the number one, number four and number six slots.
“It felt great to head into singles play with two wins under your belt, but we were outplayed in several singles positions and couldn’t quite close two matches that we took the first set in. Our only “easy” point of the day came from a dominating performance by Laurelyn, as her consistency and accuracy, even in the gusting wind, was too much for her opponent to handle this afternoon. She has struggled some early this season to bring her best tennis to the surface, after spending the summer on SST and not getting the normal amount of playing in over the summer that she is used to. This win was a huge step in the right direction. I expect she will only continue to raise the quality of her game as the season continues. Rachel and Alyssa both battled through very close singles matches. Both took their first sets, struggled in their seconds and battled in their 3rds. On another day these matches would have gone our way.”
Goshen did take a defunct point in singles play, as freshman Chelsea Wampler won her pro-set match by an 8-2 count.
The Leafs will return to MCC action on Saturday, when the team travels to rival Bethel College. Match time is set for 11 a.m.
“We have three days to practice and then another tough match on Saturday against Bethel,” Yoder said. “They have beaten both Grace and Taylor already this season, so we are going to have to play our best up and down the line-up.”
Singles:
#1 Jessica Stolle (GR) def. Diana Diaz (G): 6-3, 6-3
#2 Laurelyn Foderaro (G) def. Kyla Zenan (GR): 6-3, 6-0
#3 Alisha Anthony (GR) def. Rachel Lanctot (G): 5-7, 6-0, 7-5
#4 Kayla Semmerling (GR) def. Hannah Groff (G): 6-1, 7-5
#5 Sarah Peters (GR) def. Alyssa Dewing (G): 4-6, 6-0, 6-4
#6 Meghan Redhair (GR) def. Janie Beck (G): 6-3, 6-0
Doubles:
#1 Diaz/Foderaro (G) def. Zenan/Stolle (GR): 8-7 (7-4)
#2 Lanctot/Dewing (G) def. Anthony/Peters (GR): 8-6
#3 Rummel/Redhair (GR) def. Beck/Groff (G): 8-1
Exhibition match:
Chelsea Wampler (G) def. Grace 8-2
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Senior Laurelyn Foderaro