Until next time

Ferris women’s tennis wraps up their season

The Ferris women’s tennis team closed up their spring season as the Bulldogs fell to Lewis University (Illinois) 6-3. 

Lewis University claimed two out of the three doubles matches and went 2-1 in singles on the day against the Bulldogs. 

The team finished the year 7-12 overall and 4-6 in GLIAC play. 

“Overall, I think the team performed well and we are really excited for next season with a couple of recruits coming in and being our second season with new coach Daniel Hangstefer. We are really excited for fall and ready to have a great season,” Ferris junior Nicole Meylor said. 

The team will graduate four seniors: Adriana Fabrizio, Amiena Houston, Arien Kissinger and Teodora Stefanovic. 

“This year, my team did a great job performing on and off the court. I’m red-shirted this year, so unfortunately I wasn’t there for every match played but seeing my team during practice and executing during matches was definitely a proud moment for me as a teammate and just watching everyone work hard and grow individually,” Houston said. 

First year Head Coach Daniel Hangstefer is a former NCAA Division I student athlete at Lipscomb University (Tennessee). The past four seasons for Hangstefer were spent as the head coach at Metropolitan State University of Denver (Colorado). 

With new recruits coming in the fall, the veteran experience from this past season and a coach with a year under his belt seems to be the recipe for success next year for the women’s tennis squad. 

The team will begin their offseason workouts this week and continue into the summer months to prepare for the fall. 

“We are all looking forward to summer and it’s important that all of us put in the hard work this summer so we’re ready to jump into our conference season in September,” sophomore Madelyn Grouix said. “I’d say our team had a really good year. It was our first season with our new coach and overall everyone adjusted well.” 

The GLIAC conference was extremely competitive this year, as six teams finished the year with winning record. 

The Bulldogs finished in seventh place overall in the final conference standings. 

“The main obstacle this year for my team was adjusting to having a new coach. With a new coach, you never know what to expect as far as personality, purpose and coaching style. Coach Hangstefer definitely showed his purpose as a coach for this team the very first day of practice. He not only cares about us as tennis players but who we are as people off the court,” Houston said. 

The team’s schedule has not been set in stone for the fall season. However, matches typically begin in late September.

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