Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Trey Burke Junior Anouk Faure returns a volley during a match against Southern Illinois. Her win helped Eastern pick up their first win of the season.

The women's tennis team battled tough competition en route to their first win of the season.

The Colonels (1-3) dropped a match on Friday to 68th ranked Marshall 7-0, before bouncing back and beating Southern Illinois 4-3 on Saturday.

"Beating SIU is huge for our confidence," Head Coach Rob Oertel said. "Not only the win itself, but how we were able to win that match are a great character builder for us."

To obtain their first win, the Colonels had to beat Southern Illinois in dramatic fashion.

The Colonels lost the opening doubles point losing two doubles matches to SIU. Then Eastern lost the first singles match, finding themselves down 2-0 for the match.

Juniors Anouk Faure and Myriem Mhirit, and sophomore Alyze Pagal won their singles matches in straight sets to give the Colonels the lead for the match.

Southern Illinois won another singles match leaving only one match in play.

That left Senior Anais Hamel, Eastern's team captain, playing against SIU's Jessica Flannery.

"Anais knew it was down to her," Oertel said.

Hamel won the deciding match in three sets to give the Colonels their first win.

"Anais stayed at a good high level the entire match," Oertel said. "She stayed the course and never lost her composure when the other girl made a run. That was the difference. There are no peaks and valleys with Anais."

The vocal support of her teammates helped Hamel close out the match.

"Everyone is very vocal and supportive of each other while we are playing," Hamel said. "There was a lot of pressure, but it made me better. I knew that I couldn't lose at that point."

The win over Southern Illinois will also serve as a reminder to the team of how well they play in tough matches.

"It's good to win a tight match like that," Hamel said. "It makes us stronger for the OVC schedule."

Eastern will now prepare for two more tough matches this weekend. The Colonels host Akron (3-0) on Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Greg Adams Tennis Center. On Sunday, Eastern will host West Virginia (3-0) at 9 a.m. Akron is picked to win the MAC this season.

"They are both good teams," Oertel said. "We are playing a brutal schedule to start, but all you can ask of yourself is to play your best every opportunity you get and that is what we will do."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools