The women’s tennis team kicked off their fall season last weekend in Greencastle, Indiana at the DePauw University Fall invitational.
“The layout of the tournament allowed most of our team to get time to play and served as a perfect opener to our season,” sophomore Gretchen Wilder said.
The tournament allowed the players to test their individual skills. Some DePauw players even had to play each other.
“We all worked really hard training for this tournament," senior Claire Marshall said. "Everyone proved to be both physically and mentally tough.”
After an overall 19-5 season last year, the Tigers seem poised for a successful fall season. A new conditioning regiment has the players ready to take it to the next level.
“We lift once a week and are starting a new running program that will hopefully help us to gain more stamina and outlast our opponents,” Marshall said. “The captains will hold captain practices that will not only include hitting, but also the running program and lifts as well.”
With all the work the girls are putting into it, they expect another very successful year—despite losing a few seniors.
“We lost three girls (two starters), but gained a great group of freshmen,” Marshall said. “There are six seniors this year, myself included, and we are looking to step up and lead this team to a national championship.”
She feels that the girls replacing them, however, are ready to make an immediate impact.
“We are confident in this as we have a great group of underclassmen that have proven to be hard-working and very dedicated,” Marshall said. “Additionally, our team has a lot of depth, which gives us a strong line-up no matter what.”
As someone expected to fill some the holes left, Wilder agrees.
“Last year we lost two seniors who played a huge role on our team, as leaders and as players so this year was an adjustment to start our season without them,” Wilders said. “We have six awesome seniors this year that will make the transition easier and will lead the team to great things this season.”
Looking into the near future, the girls will play in the Butler Invitational this weekend.
“We are all really pumped up for this weekend because it is an opportunity for us to play against teams from Divisions I and II,” senior Kaitlin Pickrel said. “As a D3 athlete it's always exciting for us to get an opportunity to compete against these teams. I think we have a great chance to do well this weekend.”
In addition to good competition, it’s also good practice.
“This tournament will help prepare us for our regional tournament in Kalamazoo in two weeks, as we will be up against high levels of competition,” Marshall said. “I have a lot of confidence in our team and know that we will fight hard and prove to be the most mentally and physically tough team out there this weekend and in matches to come.”
The Tigers will play at Butler University on both Sept. 13 and 14 this weekend.