As the women’s tennis team steps away from a disappointing 3-4 defeat at Kennesaw State University this past Saturday, they prepare for their first 2014 Southern Conference match this upcoming weekend.

“We lost a heart-breaker of a match to Kennesaw this weekend and it was really unfortunate it didn’t go our way, but we did have some highlights. Jordana Klein had a really big win when she scored the No. 1 singles spot. As well as Guila Riepe and Mary Phillips Smith achieving the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots of the day,” Head Coach Amy Bonner said.

“Obviously it’s always tough not to win a match but I think we could’ve done better in doubles, although I was proud of my performance and my team’s performance. I think it just gives us motivation for our upcoming conference matches,” Klein, junior, said.

Going into this new chapter of the season Georgia Southern University’s women’s tennis team will face schools such as Elon University, Appalachian State University and Western Carolina University.

“I think some really good things have happened for us but of course there is still a lot we must work on,” Bonner said. “We’re playing Elon next weekend who, if I’m not mistaken, was runner up in the SoCon last year…We definitely have some tough competition right off the bat, but I feel these past seven matches have really prepared us. The girls are really excited and feel ready.”

Their first match will be against the 3-4 Phoenix. Elon started off their 2014 season with a sweeping loss against Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University but has since had some luck. Their last match was an encompassing 7-0 victory over Radford University.

The Eagles’ first home SoCon match will take place against an 0-4-1 WCU on March 15, directly proceeded with a match against a currently 1-4 App. State.

“I think we’re all really excited and we’ve been preparing pretty much all year, and we know that since this is our last year in SoCon we want to go out with a bang so we’re hoping to get these first two wins and go from there,” Klein said.

GSU will go head-to-head against Elon and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro on March 1-2.