The men’s and women’s tennis teams were successful this weekend at the Wichita Intercollegiate Tournament as they got a taste of the competition they will face during their spring season.
“We did pretty well. It was kind of like a warm-up tournament because it was the first since our off season,” senior Michael Angarita said. “We have to remember that all these tournaments are just preparing us for the real season, so it was good in those terms.”
The men’s team was able to shake the first tournament jitters sending every doubles team to the finals. Junior Trevor Hedberg and freshman Andrew Posch were the only team to win in their finals match.
Junior Hunter Hollarn said the team’s performance in singles as well as doubles is proving the team is a strong competitor for the fall season.
“Pretty much our whole team won their first- round matches and everyone got some good wins in,” Hollarn said. “So, we are looking pretty good for this fall.”
The women’s team also competed well in doubles sending each team through the first round. Coach Rick Walsh said these performances had some of the players standing out as top contenders within the team.
“(Seniors) Jaime Lawrenz and Kelsey Stephens did really well and they are positioning themselves to be our No. 1 doubles team,” Walsh said. “Then Melissa Shank and Alli Stephens, a senior freshman combination, have also played well and seem to be a solid team.”
On the singles side the women faced tough competition but in several situations were able to pull through.
“Jaime Lawrenz played a baseline hitter from a Division II school and defeated her in straight sets,” Anderson said. “She just played an amazing couple of sets of tennis. That’s as good as I have seen Jaime play.”
Also in singles, senior Taylor McKinley reached the finals in her division, while Allie and Kelsey Stephens and Shank all made it through their first rounds.
“Allie Stephens won a really good match in her first round. She had really tough competition,” Walsh said. “Then she got beat in her second round but came back and did well in the consolations.”
This tournament was a chance for both teams to scope out this year’s competition, as well as the level of play they will face. As they continue through the fall season and look ahead to the spring season, coach Walsh is noticing that the presence of foreign players on other teams will stiffen the competition this year.
“A lot of people have a lot of foreign players on most of the teams, and they all seem to be bringing a high level of competition to the tennis,” Walsh said. “I think the tournament was good because both teams saw the level of competition where we need to bring our game up to in the spring.”
Next week the men will play at Johnson County Community College at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Then both teams play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s small college regional championships in Kansas City, Mo.