NEW WILMINGTON, PA. – The Washington & Jefferson College women's tennis team (6-4, 2-1) got back in the win column with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over the Westminster Titans in a Presidents' Athletic Conference dual that needed to be played out in two parts.
The Presidents got off to a good start in the doubles as freshman
Keira Ross (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and sophomore
Bella Graham (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) took the No. 3 doubles set 6-0. Westminster took the second doubles match to tie it up. Senior captain
Claire Loomis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) and sophomore
Keiran Moorhead (Canonsburg, Pa./Peters Township) battled at the No. 1 doubles spot, but ultimately the Titans took the tiebreak 7-6 (7-3) to go 1-0 up into singles play.
W&J responded by taking the first three singles matches. Ross got the Presidents on the board with a straightforward 6-1, 6-0 victory at No 4. Loomis gave W&J the lead with a straight sets 6-2, 6-1 win at the No. 2 spot. Additionally, junior captain
Mackenzie Gumto (Renfrew, Pa./Knoch) gave the Red & Black a 3-1 advantage with a 6-0, 7-5 win at the No. 6 position.
The Presidents faced some extra adversity in trying to close out the dual though. At 3-1, the initial match on October 9
th got called due to darkness. As per PAC rules, the contest was to be played out on a later date at the Janet Swanson Tennis Center.
W&J came back out and picked up where they left off as sophomore
Austyn Paugh (Jane Lew, W.Va./Notre Dame) clinched the overall victory with a win at No. 5 singles. Paugh came back from a set down and battled to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 three-set victory. Although the match was clinched, Westminster did not go away and took the final two singles matches to round out the score. W&J held on and took the overall dual win 4-3.
The Presidents return to the Janet Swanson Tennis Center on Tuesday (Oct. 13) when they host Geneva for their senior recognition match. The dual will commence at 6:00 p.m. with a ceremony for the seniors beforehand.
