Despite slow start to season, Lady Raiders make way into postseason

At times, the Raiders looked lost, but they found direction late in the season and clinched one of the last spots in the Horizon League tournament. While Wright State’s record (10-12, 4-4) doesn’t qualify as a success, Head Coach Sean McCaffrey cares only about the end result. For a team that started 0-5, reaching the postseason seemed implausible. But they turned that dream into reality. With new life, the fifth-seeded Raiders want to make noise in the tournament and one thing lies in their path: Butler. “One of their big goals is beating Butler,” said McCaffrey. “We didn’t do it in the regular season, so we have this extra chance now on Friday to play them. We’re hoping we beat them.” If WSU tames the Bulldogs they’ll play in the semi-finals Saturday against top-seed Illinois-Chicago. In the other side of the bracket, Cleveland State, Milwaukee and Detroit will fight for the other finals spot. Butler’s record is deceiving and the Raiders can’t afford to look ahead. As McCaffrey mentioned, WSU lost their regular season matchup 5-2. What gives the team confidence is their play this past weekend. The Raiders crushed Youngstown State 5-2 on Saturday before showing promise in a 6-1 loss to CSU on Sunday. “We played well enough to win Saturday against Youngstown State,” said McCaffrey. “I think some of our women played really well against Cleveland State, but they’re just in another league when it comes to how good they are compared to Youngstown State.” At 1-17, YSU looked meek. But the Raiders didn’t show compassion. Against the Penguins, Alex Bastock and Amy Nini won in straight sets, while Chelsea Girgash earned a walkover and Taylor Hines double-bageled (6-0, 6-0) YSU’s Jennifer Moore. Though top players Kayla Tuscany and Masha Peresetsky lost their matches, the doubles teams of Tuscany/Bastock and Hines/Nini put YSU away. The Raiders traveled to the other end of the spectrum the next day with a 6-1 loss to CSU, yet McCaffrey’s optimism didn’t waver. “Cleveland State’s really good and being able to come away with one point gave us some momentum for the last match out there, and it really gave the team something to look forward to this coming week when we play Butler,” said McCaffrey. The CSU scores didn’t look pretty. Tuscany, Bastock, Nini and Girgash all lost their matches in straight sets, with four 6-0 sets mixed in. But Peresetsky scored the lone singles win in a comeback 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 effort. It’s fitting for a comeback win to prove the final highlight of the Raiders’ season. All spring, they battled adversity and turned the tables on near-failure to reach the postseason. In the final act of the season, WSU hopes to rewrite its story with a conference championship.

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