The FAMU women’s tennis team smashed through the Savannah State Tigers Friday.
In the doubles category, Rattlerettes Dia Collins and Melissa Murray served a winning game against the Tigers’ Asha and Karen Richards.
FAMU’s Sahirah Williams and Asha Jaja defeated Savannah State’s Roslyn Frank and Neikelle Lashley 8-3. FAMU’s Charlana Brown and Monet Duncan won their set over Nicholette Stuart and Christian Simms with a score of 8-2.
The cohesiveness in the doubles game came from new methods the Rattlerette squad learned during its practice season.
“Over a period of time, we have implemented some new techniques for the team,” said Head Coach James Hargrove “They used them with the games today and it seemed to work pretty well.”
In the singles competition, Dia Collins and Monet Duncan defeated Karen Richards and Christian Simms respectively, each with a score of 6-0 in both sets.
Duncan, a freshman from Boston, enjoyed her first collegiate win.
“It feels pretty good,” Duncan said. “I feel I played well and I did what I had to do to win. I had extreme focus and I played my A-game.”
Melissa Murray, did won her game with Nicholette Stuart, 6-2 and 6-0. Returning to the courts after injury, Murray, 18, a sophomore from Kingston, Jamaica was happy about her game as well.
“My game’s coming back together and I’m definitely back on track,” Murray said. “I’m recovering pretty well and I just need to keep on focusing and maintaining my winning streak.”
Asha Richards of Savannah State fell to FAMU’s Charlana Brown with a score of 6-2 and 6-1. Asha Jaja and Sahirah Williams triumphed in their sets against Neikelle Lashley and Natasha Frank with scores of 6-4, 6-0 and 6-2, 6-1 respectively.
In spite of defeat, Craig Payne, coach of Savannah State, was pleased with his team’s progress.
“It was our season opener and we did well playing against a team like FAMU, which has a very good tennis program,” Payne said.
Similarly, Coach Hargrove was pleased with his Rattler squad’s performance.
“It’s a good win,” Hargrove said. “We lost the previous three matches, so this win helped us to get a little bit of confidence back; and I think this will help them when they play their next match.”
The Rattlerettes next match will be Sunday against Georgia Southern at 1 p.m.
Melissa Bridgewater can be reach at bridgewater_mj@hotmail.com.