By Alex Wagner

Assistant Sports Editor

Despite signs of improvement, the women’s tennis team had a rough going last weekend in Olean, N.Y., dropping two of its three matches.

Things started off well for the Bison, who defeated Niagara 4-3 on Friday night, marking their first victory of the season. Elizabeth Morgan ’14 decided the victory, beating her opponent 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 6 singles spot.

“I just tried to stay really focused and play my game,” Morgan said. “I tried to stay consistent, but also to be aggressive on the right shots.”

The duos of Elena Vidrascu ’14 and Lydia Colvin ’15 and Jen Bush ’15 and Lauren Boone ’15 won two out of the three doubles matches, starting the Orange and Blue off strong.

Things continued to go well with Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 and Vidrascu earning victories at the first two singles spots, but losses at the next three slots left the match in Morgan’s hands.

“Although we still have things to work on, this weekend was a good challenge for us.  We played some tough matches, and performed pretty well in them,” Morgan said.

The Bison lost Saturday afternoon’s match against St. Bonaventure 7-0.  Daria Tuzhikova ’13 and Iepuras started the day winning their No. 1 doubles match 9-7 against the Bonnies’ Marissa Brossard and Amanda Pallikunnel, but the other matches were too much for the Orange to Blue to handle, as they lost the remaining two doubles matches and all six singles matches.

The Bison were unable to bounce back from the loss in their next match against Duquesne on Sunday afternoon, losing 6-0. Due to time constraints, they only played the singles matches, but the Orange and Blue were unable to pull out a win in any of the six.

Vidrascu, playing at No. 2, came the closest to victory after winning the first set against her opponent.  She was unable to maintain her momentum, though, falling in back-to-back sets and eventually losing 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Despite the rough going early on in the season, head coach Rebecca Helt still has a lot of confidence in her players.

“We saw a lot of improvement in several areas … ball striking and confidence level were definitely better this weekend,” Helt said.  “This is a rough time of year.  It’s difficult to get in a good rhythm with the weather conditions, and I think once we get outside and get a few more matches under our belts we’ll continue to see a lot of improvement.”

The Bison look to get in a good rhythm in their next match, which will be against Saint Francis (Pa.) on March 2 in Loretto, Pa.