The women's tennis team ran into more bad luck this past Saturday, falling 7-0 to Boston University in its home opener.
The loss dropped the Big Green's record to 1-6 in this tough season.
"The loss was tough, but we are trying not to be too discouraged since BU is such a strong team," Captain Trudy Muller '96 said.
While the Big Green could not pick up any wins against BU, Courtney Dill '99 showed some hope at the number five singles position. Dill dropped the first set 7-6 to BU's Liz Clay. In the second set, Dill came back to take Clay 6-2.
Clay returned in full force for the third set and defeated Dill 6-1, taking a 2-1 victory.
Kallie Buehler '97, at the second singles position, also played a strong match, losing 4-6, 6-7.
In her second set, Buehler came back from a 2-5 deficit to take a 6-5 lead. However, she could not keep up with her opponent's pressure and lost the set 6-7.
In doubles action, Sarah Anderson '99 and Tara Pennington '99 had a good showing for the Big Green at the number three position, falling 8-6.
"We weren't expected to win, but an upset would have been nice," Muller said. "They are in the top nine in the Eastern region."
Despite troubles this season, Muller believes the lineup will remain the same with Muller and Buehler at the one and two singles position and the pairs of Buehler and Elizabeth Baker '97 and Muller and Dill at the one and two doubles position.
"We have started slow the past few seasons and picked up speed quickly. Hopefully this is the end of the slow start," Muller said.
"This is just another match of experience that will help the freshmen handle next weeks' matches and pressure even better. I think the team sees how tough the competition is and what we need to really work on this week before the Penn and Columbia matches," she said.
According to Muller, these games will be huge for the Big Green because they are the first Ivy League games of the season.
To prepare for the matches, the Big Green have spent the week concentrating on their weaknesses, hoping to decrease their mistakes and capitalize on every opportunity.
"We need to win at least one of the two matches [this weekend]. We are taking it one match at a time and I'd like to come out of the weekend with some wins," Muller said.
As for the rest of the season, Muller said, "It, too, is a match-by-match battle that we intend to fight."
The team moves back into competition starting tomorrow afternoon.
The Big Green will face the University of Pennsylvania tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in Leverone Field House. On Saturday, the team will meet Columbia University at 12:00 p.m., also in Leverone Field House.
