Due to severe colds and a bad case of the flu, the women's tennis team lost their match with a score of 0-9 on Thursday against Northwood University. The team again traveled to Northwood on Friday and Saturday to compete in the ITA Mid-American Collegiate Women's Tennis Regional. Although the team played hard, they didn't place. Despite their losses, the team remains optimistic about future matches.
"We've been suffering from the flu, but they still managed to play well," Coach Suzanne Abel said of the match on Thursday. "They are absolutely improving; they were able to return balls to the team, we just couldn't get the point."
Senior Jessica Miller, who was very ill with the flu, said that there were a number of things that contributed to the loss to Northwood.
"Thursday's match really didn't go very well at all. I was still sick, everyone else was getting sick or getting over being sick," Miller said. "We were tired from the drive and they are the number 1 team in our conference by far. Not a very good combination."
Freshman Betsy Peters, who also suffered from a bad cold, said that the match was more of a learning experience.
"We played well, though our scores didn't show it," Peters said. "It was a learning experience and very tough competition-now we know what it's like."
At the ITA tournament, Miller was the only one who advanced past the first round.
"I won my first two matches fairly easily (6-1, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-2) and made it to the round of 16 before I lost to Ferris' No. 1 girl (7-5, 6-0)," Miller said. "So I played to my seeding which is pretty good, I guess. It was our first overnight trip as a team, and I think that was good for us."
Although the team didn't place at the tournament, Abel said she brought the team to compete because she thought it would be a good way to show the team tougher competition.
"This tournament is a regional qualifier-we were there for the experience because the freshman needed to see what they are up against," Abel said. "All the other schools there were in the top 20 in the nation."
As for their next match, the tennis team will be playing Michigan Tech on Sept. 25, at Houghton, Mich.