Women's tennis loses in championship to Spartans

The 2010 Lyndon State women's tennis season drew to a close following a loss to Castleton in the North Atlantic Conference east division championship. 

LSC fell by a score of 8-1 in the final match of the season vs. Castleton State College last Saturday, Oct. 16.  With the loss, the season ended on a very similar note to last year, when LSC lost 9-0 in the finals at CSC.  Lyndon's lone win in the championship this year came from sophomore Maria Parr, who defeated Marina Francy in fourth singles 7-6 (7-5), 6-0. 

Lyndon shut out Johnson State at home 7-0 two days prior in the first round of the postseason, but the CSC Spartans proved too talented for the Hornets to defeat.  Regardless, coach Susan Henry believes her team did not fare too badly.

"I truly believe if we played really great tennis we could have beaten Castleton," Henry said. "I don't feel like our score of 8-1 was really indicative of how close the matches were.  I give our women credit for going out there and working hard for each point."  

Senior Jenn Falsetti was named to the NEAC east division all-tournament team.  Falsetti found herself earning the honor this season despite taking a recent break from tennis.

 "I took last season off to work on News 7 because I didn't have enough time to play," she said. "I came back this year not playing for two years… but I did improve a lot in the second half of the season and I did get back to my old self. Unfortunately it was a little too late in the season for me to win a lot of my matches, especially being in the one seed, which is always really hard." 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, freshman Kayla Flynn has burst onto the scene, winning NAC rookie of the week honors multiple times this season.  Flynn has spent most of the season playing at the number three singles slot and in the number two doubles pair.  For Flynn the transition to college level tennis has been smooth, though she says it does differ from high school.

"It's definitely much different. There's not as many people on the team for one thing. But it's still competitive and it's really fun, and that's why I do it," said Flynn. "Doubles is good because you get to work with someone else and that keeps your spirits uplifted. The season's gone really well, definitely better than expected."

With the success of Flynn and fellow newcomers to the team, it appears the women's tennis program is on the right track. 

"From my experience my first two years here, I was thrilled with the team this year," said Falsetti when comparing this team to previous ones.

"In the past we were short on players, we had people who couldn't even hit the ball but this year…there wasn't a huge difference between myself, the number one player, and our number six player," she said. "Everyone had spirit, everyone cared, it wasn't just something you rolled out of bed for.  Everyone wanted to be there."

Coach Henry carried the same message, saying "I love my team."  Looking ahead to next year, Henry says the addition of two new teams to the NAC will definitely shake up the conference.  "The two new teams will make our conference stronger, Colby-Sawyer in particular is tougher than even Castleton," said Henry.