Entering the season, Sarah Gealer — along with four other players on the Terrapins tennis team — had never played the sport collegiately.
Despite her inexperience, the freshman still set a challenging goal for herself: She wanted to win a singles match in conference play.
While Gealer achieved that Saturday at Wake Forest, it wasn’t enough for the Terps to achieve more milestones for themselves. The team fell to the Demon Deacons, 4-3, and again Sunday at N.C. State, 7-0. The Terps are still winless in ACC play and in road matches despite a 5-5 mark at home .
“It’s the same hard courts,” coach Daria Panova said of her team’s inability to win in unfamiliar environments. “We are using the same balls. It’s not like we get huge crowds at home.”
With only two regular-season home matches remaining, the Terps’ five freshmen will have to wait until next spring for their next chance to notch a true road victory. But with the ACC tournament being held at a neutral site in Cary, N.C., in just more than a week, the Terps will need to find a way to win away from College Park if they want to extend their season beyond a one-and-done appearance.
Gealer’s efforts weren’t enough on the road this weekend. After the Terps (5-14, 0-9 ACC) took the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead, Wake Forest (3-16, 2-7)won the next four singles matches to take a 4-1 lead, ensuring another Terps defeat. Gealer — who won 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 — and Olga Gaistruk’s victories simply made the score line respectable.
“Her energy was great on the court,” Panova said of Gealer.
Despite Sunday’s lopsided score, Panova complimented her team’s efforts against the Wolfpack, even though it was the fourth time this season the Terps failed to notch a single point.
“I think it was the first time we worked hard in every single match,” Panova said. “As a team we played better than usual.”
Panova has seen the effort from her team, but the win column has still been elusive. The Terps’ last victory came on March 16. Since then, they have lost eight matches, the last six of which were in ACC play.
A winning mentality might take some time to instill in the team. With the Terps now turning their attention to their final home stand and matchups against two top-10 squads — Duke and North Carolina — Panova doesn’t expect victories. She acknowledged the team might not have that “it” factor when it comes to finishing matches off, but she expects to see energy out of her squad.
And if the Terps put on the same performance they did this weekend, she won’t be disappointed.
“We fought well as a team,” Panova said. “We fought for each other.”
sportsdbk@gmail.com
