The Plattsburgh State women’s tennis team went into this past weekend with confidence after starting its season with two wins.
The Cardinals’ games on Wednesday and Friday had to be rescheduled to the weekend and then had to be pushed back to the afternoon due to inclement weather.
The weekend was a big one for the Cardinals, facing teams from SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oneonta. The results determined the seeding for the SUNYAC tournament at the end of the season.
“I’m immediately looking for their top effort.” Head coach Annemarie Curle said on Friday after the match was rescheduled. “This is a big weekend we really need to bring our best effort.”
Curle was very happy with how the matches at Johnson State and Castleton went and was hoping to see the same kind of teamwork and strengths this past weekend.
“It really was a team effort and I was very proud of the way they came together.” Curle said. “Although some of them might have faltered in their individual match, as a team we were able to get the victory.”
Even though the rain stopped their matches scheduled for earlier in the week, PSUC was eager to get back on the court again. Something that brought the Cards together as a team this weekend was the fact that they faced some of their top competitors.
“Our biggest competitor right now is probably Cortland.” Junior Kelci Henn said. “We beat them last year which was a huge upset and it was really great to experience that.”
Confidence is something that the teammates find really important and it’s something that helps the team work together to reach their goals.
Freshmen Erin Wiggins says it’s a huge factor in how the team plays.
“We just stayed positive throughout the game.” Wiggins said, referencing their past weekend in Vermont. “I mean it’s a mental process and staying positive is 50% of the game, if you’re not mentally prepared you’re not gonna win.”
For Wiggins, those two matches were her first collegiate-level tennis matches.
“It’s different from high school. We definitely spend more time together and you create a bigger bond with the teammates” Wiggins said. “You really have eachothers backs and you’re improving with the team, it’s not just individually.”
The women played SUNY Oneonta first on Saturday at 2 p.m. There were still some rain showers which resulted in some matches being unfinished. Plattsburgh’s team lost the tilt 5-0 before facing SUNY Cortland later that day.
Again, the weather left some of the matches unfinished. The team lost the overall match 5-2, but was able to get some match wins. The duo of Shari Forman and Shari Forman was one of the pairs that was able to best its opponents.
“We played our absolute best tennis and could not be more elated with the outcome.” Forman said. “We had incredible footwork and points earned, and gave the other teams a challenge.”
The results from the weekend left Plattsburgh 2-2 for the season. They played another home match Wednesday against Saint Michael’s College, losing 9-0. The team faces SUNY New Paltz today, before playing against Mount Saint Mary College tomorrow in Newburgh, NY.
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