Last weekend at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, DePauw University’s women’s tennis team earned their fourth straight conference title. The women won their quarterfinal match 5-0 over Wittenberg University and then shutout hosts Kenyon College 6-0 in the semis. DePauw kept the shutout streak going into the finals against Denison University, blanking the Big Red 6-0 to bring home the title. Senior Carolyn Huerth, along with her classmate and doubles partner Taylor Mahr were victorious in each of the three doubles matches. Huerth was up 6-0, 3-0 when her singles match was called off because the Tigers had already clinched the victory and then went on to win her match in the finals 6-0, 6-1. This wraps up what has been an impressive regular season for Huerth. She has a singles record of 14-6, giving her the second highest win total on the team, and a winning percentage of .700, the highest on the team. Huerth will look to lead the Tigers into the NCAA competition that begins the weekend of May 10.
The DePauw (TDP): What does it mean to you to have brought an NCAC championship back to DePauw each of your four years with the team?
Carolyn Huerth (CH): I actually transferred from a DI school so I came to DePauw my junior year. So just being able to contribute to the last two conference wins was awesome and I would not want to be playing for any other team or any other coach. So grateful I transferred and could spend my last two years playing for DePauw and being apart of this team. I know for the rest of the seniors on the team the 4-peat is such an accomplishment and well deserved because it is something we have been training for since the beginning of season so I am just happy to have a 2-peat.
TDP: I know it was a pretty complete team effort last weekend at Kenyon not dropping a single match. How pleased were you guys with such a dominating effort?
CH: We were pumped. I think the reason why we played so well against Kenyon was because across the board in all singles/doubles matches we all had the same level of determination and focus. We all came out with high energy and I think it really caught Kenyon off guard.
TDP: How do you get ready for such an important event like the NCAAs?
CH: We train a ton, two-and-a-half hour practices every day plus weights and our coach is having us run six 800's 3-4 times a week so I think we are a really fit team compared to most which is a huge advantage. Our fitness obviously helps our playing but it keeps us mentally tough because we can outlast our opponents in long grueling matches. We are getting pretty fast too, some of us I think could join the track team so look out. But the main reason why we will be ready for the NCAAs is because as a team we want to excel and go far and win the whole thing. When you have teammates who have the same goals as you big things happen.
TDP: With the date of the national tournament falling around exam time back at DePauw, how do you juggle the school work along with the competition?
CH: Just time management and discipline. It's tough because there is not much free time but I know tennis and school work comes first before friends and extracurriculars.
TDP: With tennis being a sport that takes place in both the fall and spring semesters, does the team have any extra chemistry because of all the time you guys spend together?
CH: We are so fortunate with the team we have because we are all best friends on and off the court, I honestly think we are the closest tight knit team in the nation. So I think already we have extra chemistry than most.