Sophomore Michelle DeMeo follows through after a serve. DeMeo and the Eagles began their spring season with a match up against Division I University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. | Courtesy of Emory Athletics.
The Emory women’s tennis team began their spring season against Division I University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) this past Saturday, Feb. 7.
The Eagles were swept across the board by the overpowering Mocs and finished on the wrong side of a 7-0 deficit.
Number one singles junior Beatrice Rosen lost both sets 6-1 against UTC junior Kayla Jones. In a closer match, second singles sophomore Katarina Su dropped each of her two sets 7-6.
“I thought I played really well,” Rosen said. “It was hard to find my rhythm against [Jones] though. She was really strong and had a really strong serve.”
In the doubles matches, freshman Anna Fuhr and Su played against UTC’s Jones and freshman Samantha Caswell in the first singles spot, losing 6-3.
Sophomore Melissa Goodman and Rosen lost in a 6-1 tiebreaker, bringing the score to 7-6. In thirds, Madison Gordon and sophomore Michelle DeMeo fell 6-1.
While Chattanooga blew out the Eagles score wise, the Eagles kept their composure, Rosen said.
“Even though we didn’t have a lot of wins, no one got angry,” she said. “No one gave up early. We stayed strong mentally and that’s really important for when we play Division III schools. It’s making me excited for the rest of the season.”
Su saw the competition as a predictor of a strong season.
“I was impressed with the freshmen,” she said. “They’ve never played such high level players before, and they played great. Our team has a really great dynamic, and I’m excited for future matches.”
Starting the season with a Division I team was not easy. After all, the Eagles are defending Division III Champions.
“We didn’t know how strong they actually were,” Rosen said. “We go into each match with the same mentality to just do our best no matter what. There aren’t any games I’m thinking about in the future because I just look at each match one by one.”
The Eagles’ Division III rivals offer the most exciting play, Su said.
“I’m excited to play Division III teams like Amherst and Johns Hopkins,” she said. “Those will be fun.”
Emory, now sitting at 0-1 on the season, will play at Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga. for a 2 p.m. match against the Golden Tigers on Saturday, Feb. 14th.
