Plymouth State University Tennis Team defeated University of Massachusetts Boston 5-1, last Saturday October 4, 2003. Despite the rainy weather, the Panthers had no trouble moving their match in-doors to the field house. The Pan-thers made their match well worth attending as they improved their record in the Little East Conference (LEC) to 2-2, improving their over-all record to 4-5, dropping UMass Boston?s LEC record to 0-3, with their overall record now 3-6.
In doubles action, the Panthers won 2 out of 3 of their Eight Game Pro Sets, the first coming from sophomores Whitney O?Leary and Jessie Leone defeating Umass Boston?s Denise Ridge and Cindy Wong by a score of 8-3. The Pan-ther?s second doubles win was from senior Cally Thorup and sophomore Rachel Xavier when they defeated Umass Boston?s Victoria Romeo and Cindy Wilson. The pair captured their fifth win by shutting out their opponents 8-0.
In singles action, the Panthers won 3 out of their 4 matches in fashionable style: all three wins coming as straight set victories; all three winning by a score of 6-1 in the first set, and 6-1 in the second set. Senior Co-captain Katie Olsen and sophomores Megan Sowers and Whitney O?Leary gave splen-did performances, each with a win that was just as fashionable as the next: Olsen defeating Cindy Wong in two straight sets (6-1, 6-1), Sow-ers defeating Cindy Wilson in two straight sets (6-1, 6-1), and Whitney O?Leary defeating Victoria Romeo in two straight sets (6-1, 6-1). The Panther?s suffered their only loss with their No. 1 singles player Jess Leone. Leone was defeated by Denise Ridge in two straight sets?each set hard won, the first set having a score of 4-6, and the second set having a score of 5-7.
Head Coach Judy Switzer said it was a tough loss, but one that could very easily turn out in Leone?s and her Panther?s favor the next time that Leone and Ridge meet. Over-all, Switzer was pleased that her team played well. Although the majority of her team is young, she said, ?[with] every match they im-prove.? And Switzer understands that having patience will allow her team to keep improving?indeed, patience that will bring her team success, and help to maximize her team?s potential. The Panther?s next home match will be home, Saturday October 11 at 3:30 p.m. against LEC conference opponent Western Connecticut State University.