10 I The Blue Banner t 3.23.2011
Rachael fisher - Staff Photographer
Junior Stephanie Schon, left, and freshman Zoe Hamel knock the ball back to their Highlander rivals in their game Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Tennis Center.
Highlanders knock tennis Bulldogs down, twice
Mattie Weingarten
mfweinga@unca.edu - Staff Writer
The UNC Asheville men’s
tennis team suffered a hard-
fought 2-5 loss to conference
rival Radford University on
Sunday at home.
“We all know what we need
to do to be successful. We just
didn’t do it today,’’ sophomore
Adrien Langeard said.
In doubles matches, Langeard
and partner Tom Rees were
the only victorious pair. They
won their 12th match in a row
(8-1), leaving them with an un
defeated doubles record.
“Adrien and I have been do
ing well all season, but we’re
not going to be happy until we
get the perfect season. Doubles
are a key point, and we narrow
ly missed out on that today,’’
Rees said.
Head Coach Lise Gregory
echoed the sentiment.
“I think we maybe started off
the match a little flat, and that
hurt us. The one person to blame
for that is me because it’s my
job to make sure we don’t come
out flat. That’s something I need
to work on,’’ Gregory said.
Tn singles play, Matt Waissen
and Adrien Langeard were the
lone winners for the Bulldogs.
Langeard said he maintains
success ultimately boils down
to consistency.
“We all need to play consis
tently at the same time, not peo
ple playing well one day and not
well the next. Everybody needs
to show up,’’ he said.
Rees said he is proud of his
team’s accomplishments and
has high hopes for the future.
“We’ve been playing well all
season. We’re a lot stronger than
last year with the same group
of guys, so it shows that we’ve
all been improving,” he said.
“We’ve just got to get better
in the bigger points. We think
we can be a player in the con
ference, so it’s doing the same
things, playing our own game
and staying strong on the court
every day.”
The men’s tennis team will
return to the court to face off
against the Gardner-Webb Run-
nin’ Bulldogs today at 2 p.m.
The women’s team also fell to
Radford on Saturday. Although
Stephanie Schon, Devon Ca
vanaugh and Nicole Schon won
their singles matches, the final
score was 4-3 to Radford.
In doubles, Britney Cloer and
Cavanaugh grabbed the lone
victory over the Highlanders.
Gregory said Cavanaugh was
a standout player.
“Devon did a really good
job, particularly when you take
into consideration that she’s
had some pretty serious back
issues. She was out for a good
three weeks to a month, and she
came back yesterday for her
first match in ages and just re
ally played great,” she said.
The women’s team has been
wrought with injuries this sea
son. Langeard said he believes
avoiding them will be the key to
the women’s team’s success.
“The girls have been pretty
unlucky in health. If they can
stay healthy, they will do very
well,” he said.
Gregory said she is hopeful
for the future of both teams, and
said she believes the Bulldogs
have what it takes to come out
on top.
“I think that we’re quite capa
ble of winning every one from
here on out. We all feel like
we’re very competitive in the
conference, and we feel that any
team could win the conference
title this year,” she said.
Rachael Fisher - Staff Photographer
Nicole Schon prepares to return the ball against Radford.