The Murray State men’s and women’s tennis teams saw their seasons come to an end last weekend at the OVC Tennis Championships in Nashville, Tenn.
The men’s team bowed out on Friday in a 4-0 loss to Eastern Kentucky. The ladies won a challenging first-round matchup against Morehead State, 4-3 on Friday before losing to UT-Martin 4-1 in the semifinals on Saturday. The men’s team finished the season with a 5-13 record. The women’s team netted a 12-11 mark.
One Racer’s courageous fight through adversity highlighted the women’s weekend. Ashley Pierson, senior from Acworth, Ga., played with leg cramps throughout the final match and secured an opening round victory for the Racers on Friday.
“We knew it was going to be tough, and it was,” said Kara Amundson, women’s first-year head coach. “It came down to the last match, and we had (Pierson) who had battled leg cramps the whole match just gut it out.”
Pierson’s effort was indicative of the team’s toughness this season.
“This team has been really resilient,” Amundson said. “They have been really hard workers. At the beginning of the year your goal as a team is always to peak at the end of the year going into the OVC tournament and compete for the champion
“I definitely think that’s what we did. Throughout the year there were things we needed to work on and get better at, but they came out, worked hard every day and I think we got better throughout the year. We were in a good spot to compete for the tournament; we just fell a little short.”
Amundson said the season’s end is always the most difficult.
“It’s the hardest day of the year,” she said. “Saying you’re actually done, and saying goodbye to your senior class. It’s different not going out to
practice the next week. It’s tough losing the two seniors, Cassidy (Cunitz) and Ashley (Pierson). They did a great job of leading.”
The tennis teams will now break to focus on finishing the semester, getting some rest and working hard to stay in shape and improving for next year’s season.
“It’s a much-needed break for (the players),” Amundson said. “It’ll be a good break for them to recoup, rest up for finals and get a chance to get better over the summer. I know that with the returning kids that we have and the three kids that we’ve signed so far, we’re going to have a lot of
personalities ready to step up and lead us next year.”