The Oglethorpe women's tennis team finished its spring break trip in Orlando, Fla., with a 2-3 record. Over the course of the trip, they defeated Colorado College and St. Michael's, but lost to Grinnell, Otterbein and Bethel (Minn.).
The trip started with a 6-3 victory over former SCAC foe Colorado College which took two days to complete due to rain on Monday. The Petrels took two out of the three doubles matches on Monday morning, getting victories from JaHaun Freeman-Clark/Katherine Walker at No. 1 and Ingrid Wilcox/Tricia Groover at No. 3. However, then the rains came, forcing the suspension of the match until Tuesday. On Tuesday, Oglethorpe finished it off by taking four singles matches from the Tigers. Caffrey Francis won 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2, Walker won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3, Wilcox won 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5 and Groover won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6.
Before the completion of the Colorado College match on Tuesday, the Petrels fell to Grinnell, 8-1. It was a tough match for Oglethorpe, as the only win they got was from Freeman-Clark/Walker at No. 1 doubles, 8-5. They lost all six singles matches in straight sets.
The Petrels suffered another difficult loss later that evening against Otterbein, falling 5-4. The Petrels got the No. 1 doubles victory from Freeman-Clark/Walker, 8-3, then rode to victory in Nos. 1-3 singles, as well. Freeman-Clark won an epic 4-6, 7-6, 10-6 decision at No. 1, Francis took down No. 2 6-1, 6-0, and Walker won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3. However, the Petrels couldn't pick up any of the remaining singles matches to close it out.
They suffered a similar fate Wednesday morning against Bethel (Minn.), losing that one 5-4, as well. The Petrels got two of the three doubles matches in that one, winning 8-1 at No. 1 with Freeman-Clark/Walker and 8-5 at No. 3 with Wilcox/Groover. However, they could only get two of the singles matches to go their way. Freeman-Clark won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 and Groover won 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) at No. 6, but the other four singles matches went the way of Bethel, giving the Petrels another tough 5-4 loss.
They closed out the trip on a positive note, however, beating Division II opponent St. Michael's in the Wednesday afternoon match, 5-4. The Petrels won 8-6 with Freeman-Clark/Walker at No. 1 doubles and took the No. 3 doubles match 8-2 with Groover/Wilcox. They then got three singles matches to go their way to leave Orlando on a winning note. Freeman-Clark won 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 1, Francis took down her opponent 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2, and Walker won 6-2, 6-3 and No. 3 to clinch the victory.
After the trip, the Petrels now sit at 3-8 on the season. They'll travel to Demorest, Ga., on Tuesday to take on Piedmont in their next match at 3:30 p.m.
