The women’s tennis team beat Georgetown University 6-1 on Thursday afternoon in its last home match of the season.
The Spiders ended their season with a four-game winning streak to finish 9-11 overall. They now wait to find out who they will play in the Atlantic 10 Championships next Thursday.
“We thought it was going to be a lot tighter of a match with Georgetown,” junior Elizabeth Sims said. “We thought it’d be more of a 4-3 match but we were pleasantly surprised.”
Coach Mark Wesselink was glad to see the Spiders end the season on a winning streak, he said.
“The idea is that we’re able to build momentum with all these wins,” he said. “You need wins to get your confidence up and when your confidence is growing, you make better decisions…and that’s what’s happening right now for us.”
Richmond won two of its three doubles matches to earn 1 point and won five of the six single matches for the other 5 points. Wesselink believed the doubles teams did a particularly good job and have improved tremendously from the beginning of the season, he said.
“They’re getting more comfortable,” Wesselink said. “The team unity thing is more important than people think. They’re getting used to their partners and that’s a huge improvement.”
Winning the doubles match point is a huge advantage for any team, senior Ripley Hartmeyer said, and maintaining that ability will be important in the future.
“Coming in with that 1-point lead puts a lot of pressure on the other team,” Hartmeyer said. “It’s huge before the singles part of the match even starts.”
Outside of a strong doubles presence, two things are increasing the Spiders’ momentum, Sims said: the improvement of freshmen and getting over certain injuries.
“Getting four wins in a row and finishing it all out on home court really brings a positive light to the season, which is nice,” Sims said.
“We’re just excited to end on a strong note,” Hartmeyer said. “Now it’s just time to get ready for the A-10’s.”
Contact report Scott Himelein at scott.himelein@richmond.edu
