The Plattsburgh State Women’s tennis team’s season is over, and for the first time since 2013, it happened on a victory.
Before the Cardinals were able to end on a win however, the Cards dropped their first round matchup against No. 1 seeded Geneseo, a team that finished not just undefeated, but only had one individual lose a game all season.
The match proved too tough for PSUC to overcome, but the team was able to use what it learned from the impressive play Geneseo put forward to their advantage in their match against Oswego.
Junior Jackie Ciriello explained how the loss became an extremely valuable learning tool for the team.
“Watching them and their high level of play was great for us,” Ciriello said. “We watched them do so many things like top spin or a different type of hit, and coach said ‘we can definitely start doing some things like that.”
The win that allowed the Cards to secure their over .500 7-6 record did not come easy.
PSUC fell behind early in its doubles matches 2-1, matches that they believed heading in would be a nice way to get off to a quick lead.
The team then showed the perseverance they have consistently put on display this season and made a comeback.
The Cards went on to win four of their six single matches, securing the 5-3 victory and ending their season on a high note.
Ciriello was ecstatic with her team’s performance in the difficult comeback victory, and the fact that the other team believed they had the victory locked up made it even sweeter.
“The game was challenging because they have a very similar level of play to us,” Ciriello said. “You could tell they thought they would win against us but we were able to beat them in the end.”
Freshman Kelci Henn had a very impressive freshman season.
As the season has progressed and she showed how talented she is, her role on the team incresased.
Henn continued her dominant season by winning both her singles and doubles match against the Lakers.
She talked about how important it was for the team to end their season with a victory, especially since it was in the SUNYAC tournament.
“I am so happy with how everything went,” Henn said.
Throughout the entirety of the 2015 season, head coach Annmarie Curle as well as the players have talked about how they wanted to use this season as a step towards creating a better foundation for winning.
If their consistent competitiveness against strong opponents and success in matches that they saw get out of hand in previous seasons are any indicator, they were most definitely successful.
Curle expressed how PSUC was able to look beyond wins and losses, find positives in negatives and be proud of what they have achieved throughout the entire season.
“It was great to see the players to acknowledge the improvements overall in their games,” Curle said. “It was these improvements that ultimately transferred into great team wins for us.”
It is very rare that sports teams are able to end their seasons on wins.
It is a right often reserved for champions, and though PSUC didn’t quite maintain the title of SUNYAC Chmapion, there are zero complaints on how the 2015 season went and finished.
“It was so great and so exciting,” Curle said. “Ending that way was amazing.”
Email Bailey Carlin at sports@cardinalpointsonline.com
