After losing to Baldwin-Wallace in its opening match of the season, the women’s tennis team has put together back-to-back wins against Otterbein and Ashland.

The team’s first match was a close one against Otterbein on February 24. In doubles, senior Bianca Barr and sophomore Elle Anzinger played a strong match, earning them the first win 8-5. Junior Jackie Golden and sophomore Jane Hayden played at the two and had a tougher match as they spent the majority of the time trying to catch up. They were unable to close the gap in time and lost 4-8. The match at the three was the most intense of the doubles matches, as sophomores Olivia Hayden and Kelly Sipp went shot for shot with their opponents. The match stayed close throughout, culminating in a tie-breaker where Oberlin got its second win, coming out on top 9-8.

Singles opened up with a hard match as Barr played the one position. She had a tough time as she lost a close first set of 5-7 followed by a loss in the second at 1-6. Golden had another hard match at the two, losing the first set 2-6. She made a major comeback in the second set, however, and won 7-6. She was unable to keep the momentum in the third and lost 2-6. Anzinger played the three this time around and turned it into an interesting match. She started out with an almost effortless win of 6-4 in the first set, but then she seemed to play down in the second and lost 2-6. The third set played out just like the first, though, and Anzinger took another easy win at 6-3, giving Oberlin its third win of the evening.

Olivia Hayden had a close match at the four, dropping the first set 5-7 after taking it to a tiebreaker. She came back in the second to win 6-2 and won the final tie-breaker in the third set 7-5. The five was played by Jane Hayden, who was on the receiving end of two difficult losses of 0-6 and 3-6. Sipp finished the match up in the six with two strong wins of 6-2 and 6-1. The final score was 5-4 with Oberlin prevailing.

The second match was played on February 28 against Ashland. Barr and Golden started out the doubles with a long and grueling match at the one. Perseverance was definitely the word to describe this mentally draining, nail-biting match that ended in a tie-breaker. A few well-placed shots decided it, though, for Oberlin’s first win of 9-8. Sipp and sophomore Lara Nagle played the two but met a harsh loss of 2-8. The Hayden sisters ended the doubles with some silky smooth performances, taking an early lead and leaving their opponents playing catch-up. The Haydens took the three with a win of 8-4.

Barr opened up the singles with an intense match at the one. She started off trailing in the beginning but made an amazing comeback midway through. She ended the first set with a win of 7-6, keeping the intensity up and winning the second 7-2. Barr was proud of both her and the team’s performances.

“I felt I really turned a corner today,” Barr said. “I always really felt the team as a whole really did a good job supporting one another. That’s always a nice thing to have.”

Golden followed in the two with a close first set where she lost 3-6. Golden tried to come back in the second but finished with a loss of 2-6. Olivia Hayden played an exceptional match at the three, opening up with an easy win in the first set of 6-2. The second set got close in the end and turned into a tie-breaker, but Hayden came out on top with a win of 7-5.

Jane Hayden played the four, which proved to be the most draining of all of the matches. She started off with an early lead in the first set but a few questionable out calls by her opponent led to a tight loss in a breaker of 5-7. She came back with a dominating win of 6-1 in the second and played strong in the super-breaker set. In the end, however, she was unable to come out victorious as she lost 7-10.

Sipp played another interesting match in the five that started with a hard loss of 2-6 in the first set. Miraculously, she came back in the second for a surprising win, followed by a super breaker where she took it 10-5 for Oberlin’s fifth win. Nagle played the final match for Oberlin. Dubbed “Tomb Raider” by her teammates, she brought Oberlin its sixth and final win with a set of impressive shut-out victories in both sets.

The Yeowomen look to ride their newfound momentum into the upcoming home match this Saturday at 10 a.m. against Tiffin University.