A victory on the road gets put on hold for the Florida A & M women’s tennis team, in part to a loss against Jacksonville University Saturday at the Keith Watson Family Tennis Complex.
Similar to the previous weekend, FAMU was able to win games but couldn’t consistently win sets. FAMU used its key players in competition, excluding junior Britney Dean who was out due to an injury.
Sophomore Bethany Holt talked about the areas of tennis Florida A&M has to improve in if they expect to earn victories against the opposition.
“We have to play intelligent and make sure we move our opponents around,” Dean said. “We just have to stay focused and not let other things outside of tennis worry us when we’re playing.”
JU was able to get the 3-0 sweep in doubles competition over FAMU, 8-4, 8-1 and 9-7.
The high point of the match for FAMU was junior Kathline Durden defeating Natalia Melibeu 0-6, 6-3, 1-0 (8).
FAMU head coach “Nikki” Goldthreate says the team has to be ready to adapt to anything that could prevent the team from succeeding.
“The team has to be prepared for anything and be the ones to better adjust,” Goldthreate said. “In practice and in games I have seen good things that could translate to success in singles and doubles.”
Freshman Shani Williams, who played her first match of the 2011 season against Jacksonville University, spoke about FAMU’s potential to improve.
“The players on this team are really confident on the court, no matter who they are playing,” Williams said. “We are always confident regardless and I can learn a lot from that.”
Rallying off of momentum, the JU tennis team defeated Bethune-Cookman posting a similar 6-1 victory in its fist match of the season.
FAMU sophomore Dean says the team has to cut down on the number of unforced errors and double faults each player commits.
“There’s not a preference for me or my teammates when it comes to playing singles or doubles,” she said. “I’ve always played both. We need to cut down our errors period when we are on the court.”
Coach Goldthreate says the team’s preparation is in tact and is challenging the team to bring more consistency on the road. With the combined scores in both singles and doubles competition the Jacksonville University Dolphins defeated FAMU 6-1.