The Loughborough University women’s tennis team finished in the top six at last week’s Aegon Team Tennis National Open finals.
The quartet of Suzie Dyrbus, Rachel Hall, Lise Sissler and Sam Vickers lost out to eventual winners Gosling Sports Park in the opening round of the national competition, but went on to beat the seeded side The Connaught Club in the consolation round to finish them off in the fifth/sixth position overall.
The students lost 4-0 to Gosling, who won 11 of their 12 matches on the way to the title, but went on to beat The Connaught Club 4-2 with three singles and one doubles win.
Loughborough were the only University side to be represented in the national finals which showcased the top eight teams in the UK. The squad sealed qualification after a run of impressive performances in both the group and play-off stages of the competition, finishing top of their regional league by winning all but one of their six games to qualify for the play-offs where they beat West Midlands side Barnt Green a convincing 6-0.
“We did as well as we could have hoped to,” said head coach John Pankhurst. “To play such a strong team in the opening round was unlucky and on the day they were just too good for us. But the girls came back against Connaught, and for an unseeded team to beat a seeded side is a really good achievement.”
After a strong performance in the regional league and following a national restructure, Loughborough will play in the top Midlands division next season where they will be hoping to qualify for the national finals for the second year in a row.