The Pioneers defeated Wartburg College 5-4 on Wednesday, ending the regular season with a string of nine victories to secure an 11-1 record. Despite losing their first three singles matches and their first doubles match, the Pioneers finished the game strongly and came away with the victory.
This is the Pioneer’s first victory at the new Bear Recreation and Athletic Center fieldhouse.
“I think one of the reasons we won was because we were used to the surface and the other team wasn’t,” said Catherine Fitch ’13. “We knew it was going to be a close match and it was going to be tough without Toby.”
Toby Cain ’12, the number one singles player on the team, was unable to play due to a wrist injury.
The Pioneers showed signs of trouble when they lost the first three singles and when the number four singles Morgan Counts ’14 was down 5-2. Counts rallied back and won 7-5. Hanna Feldman ’14 and Fitch, number five and six singles players respectively, finished off the night’s match in victories.
“What I liked about this match is all of our players played well tonight against a very tough opponent,” said Head Coach Andy Hamilton. “We purposely schedule this match with [Wartburg] knowing that it would prepare us for the Conference Championship.”
The Midwest Conference Championships will take place from Oct. 15- Oct. 17. The team will travel to Rockford, IL on Friday and to Madison, WI on Saturday and Sunday.
Until the tournament starts, the team will have time to reflect on their nine-game winning streak.
“I’m not sure that there has been only one thing that has made us click,” Hamilton said. “Winning sometimes solves problems. Because of our success on the court, the environment has been pretty healthy.”
With time, the players have grown comfortable with each other on and off the courts. The string of victories has only fortified the connection.
“[The] players are all very confident within themselves and with their doubles partner,” Cain said. “We’ve been playing our best seasons in the last couple weekends.”
Of all the games in the winning streak, the team agrees that the 7-2 victory against Lake Forest College is the most memorable one.
“[The Lake Forest game] was the best tennis the team played collectively,” Hamilton said. “Despite losing doubles and singles number one, all our players played well. That match nailed down our eighth straight South Division title.”
After bouncing back from its only loss against Coe College in the third game of the season, the Pioneers cruised through the rest of the season and finished in impressive, if predictable, fashion. The Pioneers have had winning seasons in the previous seven seasons. The team is also undefeated in the Conference for those last seven years.
“My expectation is that we’re going to win,” Fitch said. ”I definitely think we’re the best in the South region and we can definitely have the skills to beat many teams in the North region as well.”
