This post was written by Hatchet reporter Josh Solomon.
The Colonials were finally able to play an outdoor match at home, and it garnered some extra mojo for the team, which captured a victory over A-10 rival Temple for the first time since 2006.
GW (9-5, 3-1) earned a 5-2 victory against the Owls (8-6, 2-2) with aggressive play throughout all of its matches, winning two out of three doubles matches and four out of six singles matches.
“It’s terrific. It’s also another kind of feather in our belt in the A-10 conference so it’s just a nice confidence builder and it’s always great to play on our home court,” head coach Dawn Buth said. “That was just really exciting for us.”
Junior Leah Pascarella and senior Mimi Hamling played an aggressive game, winning their No. 1 doubles match 8-3. They used a strong rally game, as Pascarella blasted the ball past the Temple tandem while Hamling skillfully sliced the ball and used a drop shot to their advantage.
After finishing prior to the beginning of other doubles matches, they motivated their teammates, seeing an opportunity to win the round. The No. 3 matchup shortly ended as the freshmen duo of Christina Carpenter and Stephanie Wei dropped their match to an exhausting 9-7 score. But in the No. 2, senior Dorota Lysienia and freshman Lana Robins battled to win 8-6 to the crowd’s delight.
“We just really focused on bringing our energy level really high,” Buth said. “If you were to replay that match again, you would see our energy way outweigh Temple’s in the first few games, and it made a huge difference.”
In singles play, Pascarella worked through a 7-5 first set, shouting in triumph on tough points and then cruised through a 6-1 second set as her opponent, junior Alicia Doms, seemed to tire out and became frustrated with her play, slamming her racket at the end of the match.
It turned out to be a clear victory for Pascarella – the first set was not easy, though.
“I knew that [high energy] was something I was going to need to do from the beginning. [Doms is] usually an aggressive player. Today she was staying more consistent. So I knew I was going to have to be the one to be aggressive,” Pascarella said.
Robins won her No. 2 singles match easily to a score of 6-2, 6-4. Meanwhile, Hamling’s No. 4 win secured the team victory as GW went on to watch Carpenter finish out the match and win in a tiebreaker 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (6-0), capitalizing on a good showing for the freshmen.
“They’ve been really terrific. Lana’s just been a super consistent performer. Just everyday she’s going to work her tail off and just fight,” Buth said. “Steph’s just a remarkable athlete and has really incredible potential and then Christy at the six spot, again, just fighting her tail off.”
The win over Temple meant a lot to senior Hamling, who said that it’s “very relieving” to finish her time in a Colonial uniform with a victory over the Owels.
Hamling said the victory also signified to the Colonials how important it would be to keep playing with the same intensity as they look forward to another home game against East Carolina, and one more A-10 match against Fordham, before the A-10 championship.
“Just keep it going. Just keep focusing on what I can control, being there for the team and putting all of my energy to everything I got, all of my matches,” Hamling said.
