by Scott Harvey
Staff Writer
The road to victory for the La Verne women’s tennis team seems to be getting longer and harder traveled.
The team dropped three straight matches the last two weeks to take last place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) with a record of 0-10 overall and 0-5 in conference on the season.
On Friday, Feb. 27, the Leopards hosted Occidental College at the Blickenstaff Tennis Pavilion but failed to capture any individual matches and lost 9-0 to the Tigers.
Although the loss was a tough one for the La Verne team as a whole, the No. 2 doubles team of freshman Tara Ervin and junior Xochi Martinez played competitively but still lost in straight sets, 0-6, 1-6. The No. 1 doubles team, seniors Emily Judd and Amy Vanschoelandt, also stayed with the Tigers but lost in straight sets, 3-6, 2-6.
On the singles side of the court, La Verne played with much more confidence, and Ervin’s match was the highlight for La Verne, as she went the distance in the first set losing by a close score of 5-7. Ervin lost the second set as well, 2-6.
Vansholant and Judd struggled to find their singles rhythm against the Tigers, and both lost in straight sets, 0-6, 0-6.
“Moving up to No. 1 singles has been a big challenge for me this year, having lost our three top players last year,” said Judd.
La Verne failed to step up against Caltech also last Friday, as they lost, 8-1 after a tough-fought match.
The one highlight for La Verne was the play of Vansholant, as she battled in a tough three-setter and won the only singles match for the Leopards.
La Verne was also upset by Whittier on Saturday, 9-0, in what head coach Erin Hendricks described as a “hard-fought match.”
“Overall we are playing well, but with only six players on the team, it’s stressful. The extra playing time does help us though,” said Ervin.
Although this season has posted many low points for coach Hendricks, she can still see positive things coming from her team.
“I think in each match we are having individual improvements, basic skills are improving and everyone is coming together,” said Hendricks.
“We should definitely be more competitive as the season continues and into league finals,” she said.
