The women’s tennis team is hoping to qualify for the GLVC tournament this spring season.
The team started its spring season Feb. 1 with its first match against Washington University in St. Louis.
Starting off strong in the fall with a 4-0 record, head coach Keely Porter thinks the team has a good chance of making it to the tournament.
“My team has taken a beating,” Porter said. “We were playing a lot of Division I schools, and it’s great to play teams that are strong, but it’s really tough to play match after match against full scholarship players.”
Still she’s really happy with the fall, she said.
Continuing into spring season the team will be playing more Division II teams. But the Eagles liked the challenge of playing those harder teams; especially coming out of it undefeated.
Brenna Wu, a sophomore kinesiology major, is excited to play any and every team this season and found the challenge to be rewarding.
“We normally play Division II teams, so it was a very strenuous competition,” Wu said. “We don’t normally get those opportunities.”
The team has been working hard this year to improve its game with practices four days a week and two days to focus on a new extensive workout.
Porter said she is pleased with the new extensive lifting workout the ladies are doing. They are lifting for power, strength, and range of motion, which will all help with injury prevention. She said the team is also focusing on the mental side of the game: staying positive and confident, and really competing at every match.
“This fall season, we challenged each other to improve the most,” Wu said. “Each individual girl improved something about herself.”
The girls on the team all have specific goals.
Elizabeth Skinner, a junior biology major, is excited about this upcoming season, she said, especially after being placed on the top 10 all-time USI list.
“Last season, I was injured throughout most of my matches,” Skinner said. “So my main goal is to play comfortably and well, and to be able to play in all the matches.”
Ashlee Hasson, a freshman pre-nursing major, who has played competitively for 12 years, is looking forward to playing her first full season with the Eagles.
“Being a freshman, I’m just going in open minded and I’m just looking to see how it’s going to be because this is our main season,” Hasson said. “It’s kind of all new to me, but I’m hoping to try and improve my game as each match goes.”
Skinner and Wu agreed they are most looking forward to playing Bellarmine University.
Bellarmine beat the Eagles out of the tournament last season and has been picked to finish fifth in the GLVC East Division by the league’s head coaches. The Eagles think they have a good chance to make it this year.
“I’m crazy about this group,” Porter said. “I’ve got three freshmen, three sophomores and three juniors; the leadership is great.”
