Women's Tennis dusts off old court
Corazon Riley
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: Sports
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In their inaugural season, the NDNU women's tennis team has fought hard despite inexperience. The girls, under head coach Mike Rudder and assistant Michael Boldrey, have worked tirelessly to play a Division II schedule.
Rudder and Boldrey fielded seven girls from NDNU's student body to represent the school. Juniors Marissa Miller and Sarah Perry, sophomores Sonya Legaspi and Ashley Wilson, and freshmen Jen Dreessen, Christy Wiens and Ashleigh Kutcha competed this spring. The girls only had a few weeks to prepare and used strict drills and conditioning to improve their game.
In their first match of the season on March 28 against Pacific Lutheran, the girls fought hard but emerged winless. Each player improved impressively in the next match-up of the day against Mills College. Although they lost the match, each player and both doubles teams were able to put together multiple wins in individual games.
"We have been having a lot of fun and the coaches have been more than supportive," said Wilson. "We are learning so much and improving every day."
In their most recent match, the doubles team nearly prevailed victorious. On April 17, in a rematch against Mills College, the number one doubles team of Miller and Perry stunned the competition, losing 8-5. The number two doubles team of Legaspi and Wilson fared just as well, falling 8-5. Legaspi, who has consistently played in the number one singles spot, took her opponent to a tiebreaker in the second game, falling 6-1, 7-5.
"Many of us are playing tennis for the first time but I think that we are putting our best out there," said Wilson. "Hopefully NDNU can bring in some strong players and the team can play a full schedule and surprise some people!"
Rudder and Boldrey fielded seven girls from NDNU's student body to represent the school. Juniors Marissa Miller and Sarah Perry, sophomores Sonya Legaspi and Ashley Wilson, and freshmen Jen Dreessen, Christy Wiens and Ashleigh Kutcha competed this spring. The girls only had a few weeks to prepare and used strict drills and conditioning to improve their game.
In their first match of the season on March 28 against Pacific Lutheran, the girls fought hard but emerged winless. Each player improved impressively in the next match-up of the day against Mills College. Although they lost the match, each player and both doubles teams were able to put together multiple wins in individual games.
"We have been having a lot of fun and the coaches have been more than supportive," said Wilson. "We are learning so much and improving every day."
In their most recent match, the doubles team nearly prevailed victorious. On April 17, in a rematch against Mills College, the number one doubles team of Miller and Perry stunned the competition, losing 8-5. The number two doubles team of Legaspi and Wilson fared just as well, falling 8-5. Legaspi, who has consistently played in the number one singles spot, took her opponent to a tiebreaker in the second game, falling 6-1, 7-5.
"Many of us are playing tennis for the first time but I think that we are putting our best out there," said Wilson. "Hopefully NDNU can bring in some strong players and the team can play a full schedule and surprise some people!"
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