Losses to Texas Tech and New Mexico puts the women’s tennis team at a 3-7 record after no practice this past week because of  the severe snowstorm in Abilene. 

The Wildcats lost 0-4 on Sunday to the Red Raiders but fought hard despite the challenging weather.

“We started out with Tech at 10:30, and the weather wasn’t ideal,” said assistant coach Bryan Rainwater. “Incredibly windy day, which made it difficult for our girls to play the way they do. We started out strong with our doubles and singles and were able to set a tempo, but we ended up losing and it just wasn’t our day.”

After the loss to the Red Raiders, the Wildcats had a quick turnaround against the unbeaten New Mexico Loboes. The Wildcats had just over an hour between the two matches. 

“The New Mexico match broke my heart,” Rainwater said. “We had some really long doubles matches versus New Mexico. We had a tiebreaker that saw us lose 17-15, it was one of the longest matches I’ve ever watched. I thought we fought really hard and I was really proud of our camaraderie; we plan to use that going into conference play this weekend.”

Next for the Wildcats is Wichita State on Wednesday, and after that is conference play starting at McNeese on Friday. Senior Nini Memishishi said she looks forward to her last run at the conference. 

“Being one of the two seniors on this team means a lot because I missed last semester and last spring due to COVID-19,” Memishishi said. “This year is really important to me. The way we compete is really exciting and we’re playing together. I’m excited for one final run in conference play.”