The women’s tennis team finished its season with an undefeated 11–0 record and an Empire 8 championship — but it was not exactly easy.

Though the Bombers were able to defeat their competition by sizable margins, the more matches that they won, the more the pressure mounted.

Senior Natalie Jenereski said in order to deflect the pressure, the team did not focus on going undefeated but just winning each individual match.

“It’s all about anticipating what’s coming next and how to deal with one match at a time,” Jenereski said. “We don’t look too far ahead.”

This day-to-day approach increased the Bombers’ confidence and resilience throughout the season as they racked up wins within the conference and against opponents not in the Empire 8. The closest any team came to defeating the Blue and Gold was Stevens Institute of Technology, which suffered a 6–3 loss at the hands of the South Hill squad.

Despite their perfect record, sophomore Melanie Cohen said they see each match as a challenge and take no team for granted — no matter what its record may be.

“Everyone is grateful for every match that we win,” she said. “All the teams that we have played this season definitely have challenged us to play our best tennis.”

The Bombers have been successful in maintaining this grounded attitude. They have cut through competition not just during the regular season but also throughout the postseason.

The team’s best display of postseason dominance came during the Empire 8 Championship on Oct. 12 in Hoboken, N.J., where the Bombers won the conference title for the fourth-consecutive year. The Blue and Gold came into the tournament looking to maintain a 27-match conference win-streak that they had kept running throughout five seasons leading up to that point.

The team went into the tournament prepared for opposition that was looking to take down the undefeated and top-seeded Bombers, but that did not faze them.

The South Hill squad came up victorious on Saturday, defeating Stevens Institute of Technology 5–1. The Bombers came back ready to play on Sunday and defeated Rochester Institute of Technology 5–1 in the final to clinch the Empire 8 championship. As the leaders of the division with an undefeated record, Cohen said the competition was looking to dethrone the Blue and Gold of their perfection.

“Of course being undefeated put a huge ‘X’ on our back,” Cohen said. “The win on Saturday was huge for us because we knew the girls on RIT were real competitors.”

Sophomore Agata Kubik said the team’s strength on the court was able to overpower any anxiety that came from being undefeated in the regular season.

“The pressure was always there, especially being 11–0,” she said. “But we had a lot of skilled players to choose from to create a great lineup that led to a championship.”

This depth and solid composure has not only led the Blue and Gold to an undefeated season and the Empire 8 championship, but also an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in May in Lawrenceville, Ga., for the third-straight season.

This past weekend, the South Hill squad hosted the New York State Division III Women’s Tennis Championships at Cornell University. The tournament helped to wrap up a successful season and gave a preview as to what teams should expect in the spring — a more powerful squad. Sophomore Melissa Nunez highlighted the weekend, advancing to the finals in sixth singles but ultimately fell to senior Krista Romita, the top seed in the flight-six singles, of Vassar College.

Jenereski said the Blue and Gold have been successful because they have been able to transform an individual sport into a team concept.

“You put your heart and soul into it,” she said. “When it all comes together, you’re so proud of yourself and everybody because you can’t be undefeated or win a championship without your teammates.”