The Oswego State women’s tennis team closed out its fall season with a close 5-4 loss to Elmira College on Tuesday. The Lakers’ bottom three players were able to record victories in singles play, but they notched only one win in doubles play to the Soaring Eagles’ two.
Oswego State (3-12, 0-3 SUNYAC) was replaying a match that was postponed from Tuesday, Oct. 2 due to inclement weather. The Lakers fell behind, 2-1, in doubles play early, with the lone victory coming from sophomores Hannah Rawlings and Lauren Stall, who defeated Elmira junior Micah Moskoff and freshman Ellen Plowman, 9-7.
Stall and Rawlings each fell in singles play as well. Rawlings lost at No. 2 singles to freshman Ayaka Yoshino, 6-2, 6-1. Stall, at the No. 3 singles position, was defeated by sophomore Kayla Fitzgerald, 6-1, 6-1.
Senior Kelly Corwin won the first singles match for Oswego State at No. 4. She won over freshman Stephanie Tock, 6-1, 6-3.
“I think I played well in singles,” Corwin said. “I played to my strong points and was able to play consistently.”
Corwin said that consistent play allowed her to attack her opponent and enter a comfort zone.
“The biggest advantage I had was being able to hit consistent, aggressive shots,” Corwin said. “I played to my strength, using my forehand slice, and was able to keep the ball low.”
Corwin teamed with sophomore Olivia Kneirman at the No. 3 doubles position in a loss to Tock and sophomore Megan Boisclair by a score of 8-2.
Corwin said there are some things her and her partner need to work on before the spring season begins.
“We need to play more aggressively at net and need to work on the small things,” Corwin said.
Freshman Paige Edgar defeated Boisclair in singles play at the No. 6 spot, taking the match, 6-1, 6-4. The Lakers recorded their final victory at No. 5 singles, with sophomore Haley Miller taking down Moskoff, 6-3, 6-0.
Oswego State was unable to take a win at the top singles spot, with junior Nicole Leader falling to junior Amy Schmidt, 6-4, 6-3.
With the loss, the Lakers ended their fall season with four consecutive losses, which came after back-to-back victories. The three prior losses for the Lakers came at the SUNYAC Championships this past weekend in Binghamton.
Overall, the Lakers considered their season to be successful, after winning only one match all of last year and tripling that number this season.
“As a whole, I think our season was an improvement from last season with the whole team playing more consistently,” Corwin said.
But despite the improvements,
Corwin said there are still things she needs to work on heading into the spring in order to be successful.
“The biggest thing I need to work on for the spring season is to keep working on ball placement and working on my ground strokes to make them more aggressive and to have a wider range of shots,” Corwin said.
Oswego State will break for the winter before returning to action in April. The Lakers will host Alfred University on April 10 in their first match of 2013.
