Plattsburgh State women’s tennis will look to bounce back this weekend against Union College in Schenectady after a rough tournament last weekend in Cortland.
The Cardinals are coming off of three losses, dropping their season record to 1-4. They lost 7-2 against Oneonta, 5-0 in a rain shortened match against Cortland and 9-0 to New Paltz in their only three SUNYAC matches of the season.
“We’re going to be facing a top-notch program again,” PSUC head coach Annmarie Curle said of the Sept. 14 match against Union. “We need to go in not worrying so much about the final outcome but that we are going in to compete at our best level.”
Curle said the team needs to go into matches with high energy and skill on a particular day.
Even though the team lost all three matches they had over the weekend, Curle believes that some positives came out of the trip.
She said she thought it was a successful trip because the team bonded well over the weekend, creating great team chemistry. Curle said anything is possible from the team the rest of the season because they showed some great skill and there were some surprising performances.
Sophomore Sarah Drexinger thought she played relatively well in the weekend tournament and enjoyed playing multiple teams in a short period of time.
“Playing different teams makes me step back and realize the things that I need to work on as a player, but it also made me realize what some of my strengths were as well,” Drexinger said.
She feels that she needs to improve upon her footwork and her mental preparation for her next move on the court in order to make her shots more successful overall.
“Union is going to be tough, but we’ve put a lot of hard work and dedication into our preseason and our practices, so we’ll play our best,” Drexinger said. “Union is a really great team, they’ve got a lot of good technique.”
Freshman Shari Forman had a good weekend tournament, winning her singles match against Oneonta and playing well in her other matches.
“Shari is a great baseline hitter and she has a never-give-up attitude and she really played some smart tennis,” Curle said.
Forman had a hard-fought match against Kerri Picciochi of Oneonta.
“My opponent played very consistently, she played very well, and because of that she made me want to bring out my best game,” Forman said. “I just gave it my all on the court.”
Forman said she hopes to become more consistent with a wide variety of her shots as the season goes forward.
After playing Union Sunday in Schenectady, the Cardinals return home for a match Sept. 17 at 3:30 p.m. against Johnson State College.
