Justin Chapman | The Echo
The Taylor women's tennis season came to a halt after a loss to Grace College last week. The Trojans fell 4-5 to Grace in the Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinals.
While they defeated Grace 7-2 earlier in the season, this time ended differently. Had they beaten Grace, the Trojans would have faced Indiana Wesleyan in the conference semifinals. As the crew's season is now over, they can look back on an overall record of 9-5, including going 5-3 within the Crossroads League.
Freshman Alexa Kling and sophomore Mikayla Schultz were doubles partners on this year's team. One of Kling's goals was to have a winning record, which she achieved. She especially wanted to beat Indiana Wesleyan, one of Taylor's toughest opponents.
"We wanted to do better against IWU this year because we've never beaten them, but we got crushed," Kling said.
Weather caused many interruptions during the season.
"We just had a downfall when it was raining a lot, and we canceled a lot of matches, and we couldn't practice," Schultz said. The squad made several improvements from the 2015-16 season, including beating Spring Arbor for the second time in a row. In the previous season, they lost to them in the regular season but bounced back to defeat them in the tournament.
The team also improved their conference record in the Crossroads League. Last year, their final record within conference play was 4-4, while this year their record concluded at 5-3.
With the season over, head coach Jini Morgan looks forward with confidence.
"We're definitely looking toward the future," Morgan said. "We're going to be a very competitive team."
Because of their work and fighting spirit, the women's team ended up being fourth in the conference. Morgan thinks the team has improved and is excited for new talent to come in as well. She, along with the rest of the team, is ready to go back at it next year and keep making progress.
"Photograph by Fayth Glock"
