PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The long-awaited return to the court for the Millersville women's tennis team--379 days to be exact--finally arrived on Monday at Jefferson. The homestanding Rams, however, spoiled Millersville's season opener by a 5-2 score.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Jefferson earned the doubles point by winning matches at the No. 2 and No. 3 match-ups. Millersville's top team of sophomore
Julie Wallace and freshman
Noelle Htwar battled out a closely-fought match by a 7-6 (7-4) score. The No. 2 flight between
Jasmine Morris and
Kelsey Heckert of Millersville and Jefferson's Millie Coombes and Ines Blanc also needed a tiebreaker. This time, it was the Rams' team that scored a 7-6 (7-4) win.
• Millersville picked up points in singles thanks to victories from Morris in the No. 1 slot and Heckert at No. 5. Morris dropped the first set to Stanislava Norets 6-3 but charged back with a 6-3 win in the second. Morris then picked up the win after Norets retired. Heckert's win came in 6-4, 6-3 fashion over Coombes.
• Both Htwar and Wallace dropped close matches. Wallace, in the No. 2 spot, lost a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-4) in the first set before Manni Zhang took the match with a 6-3 second-set win. Htwar, playing at No. 3, bounced back from a first-set loss to win a 7-6 (7-4) second set. Blanc, however, captured the third set and the match by a 6-2 score.
REACTION FROM COACH MATT HELSEL
•
On evaluating the team's performance after a long wait: "We had some nerves in our first match, which is understandable especially after so much time. Starting slowly in doubles is a death sentence but we almost overcame it. We battled hard in singles but came up just a little short. I'm glad to have this match under our belts before we start PSAC play later this week. I think we'll be fine."
•
On Morris' performance at No. 1: "She recovered from a tough first set in singles to get the W, which is big for us on court one. It was a nice way to start for her."
NOTES
• Morris made her first appearance at No. 1 singles since Oct. 7, 2018. It was her first No. 1 win in four career matches in that spot.
• In doubles, Morris and Heckert had paired up just once before. That pairing came on March 8, 2020--Millersville's final match before the season was canceled. Millersville's other two doubles teams on Monday were paired together for the first time.
• Monday marked the fifth consecutive season that Millersville and Jefferson have played. Millersville holds a 3-2 edge in the series in that time.
UP NEXT
• Millersville heads into PSAC East play later this week, first traveling to Kutztown on Thursday before heading to Bloomsburg on Saturday. The Marauders play at home against non-conference opponent Salem on Sunday at 11 a.m.
