| Defiance, OH — A two-day road odyssey ended well — on the court, at least — for the Goshen College women’s tennis team Wednesday, as Goshen handed Defiance College a 7-2 defeat for the team’s second win of the season.
Goshen (2-4, 0-2) used a powerful bottom portion of its lineup to cruise to the win over the Yellow Jackets, as the Leafs completed their second road match in a 48-hour span. While the win was a plus for Goshen head coach Sarah Yoder, the absence of senior and top player Diana Diaz was an ominous one: Diaz spent Wednesday consulting with physicians over the status of her injured left wrist, and did not make the trip with the team.
“It was a busy two days for us after traveling to Indiana Wesleyan (University) on Tuesday and then another long road trip today to Defiance,” Yoder said. “We were missing Diana today because she had a meeting in Kokomo with several doctors who have been examining her wrist injury, so we were forced to make some lineup changes and our number one and two doubles teams played together for the first time. Despite the changes, the whole team came out ready to win this afternoon. We looked especially strong at the bottom of our lineup.”
Perhaps understating the point, Goshen cruised to wins in singles’ flights three through six and in the number two and three doubles events, dropping a total of just seven games between those six matches. Freshman Alyssa Dewing (number four singles) and senior Janie Beck (number five) were especially dominant, taking their matches in sweeping fashion 6-0, 6-0.
Sophomore Hannah Groff needed only a pair of spotted games against Defiance’s Laurel Smith at number three singles, while junior Amanda Weybright calmly dispensed of Brittany Martin 6-2, 6-0.
“We jumped to a quick lead by dominating at number two and three doubles,” Yoder said. “Hannah and (freshman) Chelsea (Wampler) dropped the first game of their pro set and went on to win the next eight. Alyssa and Janie’s match (at number three doubles) was much the same with them dropping two games early on before pulling ahead and closing out strong. There was not much competition from number three singles down to six singles. As a team we dropped four games at those four positions, and I was impressed with how focused the team looked and how eager they were to close their matches out strong.”
Defiance did provide competiton at both the number one doubles position and in the number one and two singles’ flights, as freshman Rachel Lanctot and senior Laurelyn Foderaro got all they wanted, respectively. That tandem was able to close out Defiance’s top doubles team in a narrow, 9-8 (7-4) decision, while Foderaro dropped a 6-0, 6-1 tally at the number one singles flight.
Goshen’s last point of the day came from Lanctot in the number two singles slot, however, as she held off Defiance’s Amanda Auzins in a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 marathon.
“Defiance’s top two players were talented,” Yoder said. “Rachel took a quick first set that was filled with many errors from Auzins, but soon found herself down in the second. Her opponent cleaned up her game and hit a lot of winners. She refocused though and took an early 5-2 in the third and after a small run from Auzins was able to close out 6-4. Rachel has had so many close singles matches this season and it was great to see her get another win.”
The Leafs will get a couple days to recuperate from their lengthy travels, resuming MCC competition at home on Saturday. Marian College will visit the Roman Gingerich Center for an 11 a.m. match, though the status of Diaz remains uncertain. After playing through pain since the outset of the season, Diaz and Goshen College athletic training personnel elected to revisit the injury. It is uncertain what procedures she will undergo, and when.
Check back to this site for the latest information on Diaz’s status.
Singles:
#1: Emily Meyer (D) def. Laurelyn Foderaro (G): 6-0, 6-1
#2: Rachel Lanctot (G) def. Amanda Auzins (D): 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
#3: Hannah Groff (G) def. Laurel Smith (D): 6-1, 6-1
#4: Alyssa Dewing (G) def. Cindy Toth (D): 6-0, 6-0
#5: Janie Beck (G) def. Chelsea French (D): 6-0, 6-0
#6: Amanda Weybright (G) def. Brittany Martin (D): 6-2, 6-0
Doubles:
#1: Meyer/Auzin (D) def. Foderaro/Lanctot (G): 9-8 (7-4)
#2: Dewing/Beck (G) def. Smith/Toth (D): 8-2
#3 Chelsea Wampler/Groff (G) def. French/Martin (D): 8-1
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Freshman Rachel Lanctot