Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Frankee Hendricks
On March 28th, 2023, the Belmont Abbey women’s tennis team went to Leas McRae University for a ten and a half hour marathon match. The women’s team started playing outdoors, but within ten minutes, the rain came and wiped out the courts for the day. The matches were then moved indoors to the indoor courts.
The women got one court, and the men got one. Eight matches were played on the court from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. The women’s team lost the doubles point in a close match with a tiebreak at number one doubles, 6-7 (2-7). The number two doubles team won 6-4 and number three lost 0-6.
Moving onto singles, Frankee Hendricks played a three-hour match against Mei Hiramatsu. Hendricks won 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (6-8), and 10-7. Following her, Alexis Burkhalter and Lily Aranyos also won their matches. Burkhalter played position four and won 6-3, 7-5. Aranyos played position five and won 6-2, 1-6, 10-5.
Elizabeth Vollmin, Elliot Peterson, and Kaitlin Nguyen all fell short, putting the final score at 4-3 for Leas McCrae. That might just be the longest match in women’s tennis history, with the departure time being 7:45 a.m. and the team not getting back until 1:15 a.m.
Being a part of the Belmont Abbey Women’s Tennis Team has been an incredible experience. I am finishing up my sophomore season, and I am looking forward to the years ahead!
This article was originally posted in the Spring 2023, Issue 3 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.