WAUWATOSA, Wis. – As the fall season comes to an end for the Mount Mary University tennis team, the Blue Angels lost to visiting Marian University 9-0 today at Hart Park. The loss for MMU gives the Blue Angels a 1-11 (1-9) record and moves the Sabres into a three way tie for fourth in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with a 8-6 (6-4) record.
The sweep for the Sabres started in doubles. The Blue Angels pushed the sets deep, but Marian continued to pull away. The closest match for the Blue Angels was the No. 1 doubles where Ana Mercado (Jr./Grafton, Wis.) and Amy Gossett (Fr./Franklin, Wis.) lost 8-6 to the Marian team of Meg Hartzell and Celeste Degeneffe.
Gossett put up another good fight in her No. 2 singles, but ultimately lost the team point 4-6, 6-1, 12-10.
Senior Brooke Slamka (Racine, Wis.) lost her final match 6-3, 6-0. Slamka was a member of two record breaking seasons for MMU tennis. In 2013, the Blue Angels set the single season record for NCAA wins with six. 2014 Slamka and the crew copied that total and had two near wins called for rain.
"We had a tough season getting used to the new conference, but everyone was able to stay positive and keep positive attitudes and we had fun along the way." Coach Callie Schroeder went on about their first time regular season conference play, "We played tougher teams than we have in the past and we used this year as a building year as a team."
The Blue Angels took some big steps this season, a new conference with top notch competition and a new head coach. As the season progressed, the MMU tennis team started to play more consistent and competitive tennis against the likes of some of the region's top talent in NCAA DIII.
If anything both MMU fans and head coach can be pleased with the direction of the program. Coach Schroeder, "the girls are encouraged to work hard this summer and hit with each other in order to prepare for next year!"
