Bulldog tennis is close to starting their season back up from where they left off in the fall, with an exhibition against Western Michigan on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
Before the team’s exhibition match, head coach Mark Doren sat down with the Torch and spoke on the difficulty of picking the season up after a long break, what the teams have worked on and the team’s expectations and goals for the season.
Q: Explain how challenging it may be to stop the season from the fall standpoint and then pick it back up in the spring.
A: We’re pretty fortunate to be a sport that gets to compete in both semesters, but it gets people excited in the fall to compete. The hard stop for about six weeks is pretty difficult. Sometimes our bodies need the rest, but we get so into it that we want to keep going. Its difficult, but the players have come back, ready to go already.
Q: What are some of the things that both teams worked on during this brief break in the season? What are both teams looking forward to in this spring season?
A: I think that both teams are very excited about the season. We didn’t lose anybody from the roster on the men’s team from last year and nobody from the women’s lineup either. We’ve only added players, so we’re in a really good spot. One thing we really worked on this fall is being a little bit more aggressive in our play because that’s really what it takes to have a little bit more swagger on the court. We’re working on getting our confidence so high, but it might come across as cockiness. In an individual sport, that’s pretty important since you’re often out there by yourself playing. Your teammates are on other courts next to you, but you’re still by yourself. With this separation, we’re working on that confidence portion.
Q: Who have been the players who have stepped up to become leaders on both teams?
A: I think the seniors have really stepped up, but we don’t have a captain model. We expect that type of leadership from everybody, but the seniors have stepped up. Ben Lortie and Jan Koupil are true seniors that have come a long way as far as leadership goes. Yannic Mader is a fifth-year senior that has really put in the work, on and off the court, to get himself back to a high level, proving his status. On the women’s side, we have five seniors this year. A lot of credit goes out to Sophie Daavettila being our intensity leader. Eden Short, even in her four years, hasn’t ever made the lineup, yet she continues to work hard. As a leader on the practice court, she’s pushing everyone to reach that next level. She takes it as her responsibility to make her teammates that much better, even if she doesn’t make the lineup.
Q: What are you looking for in each team for the rest of the season?
A: I would say consistency. Last year, the women’s team lacked a little bit of consistency from week to week. That’s the women’s number one focus. The men’s is energy. We were really good last year and won a conference title. When it came down to the end, we may have gotten beat based on our opponents having more belief and energy.
Q: What is the goal for both teams this season?
A: The men’s goal is to defend the conference championship, but not just the regular season, the GLIAC Championship tournament as well. Last year, we won the regular season but lost in the tournament to win state. This year, the goal is to bring home both trophies. This is the year that we’re expecting a Sweet 16 run and the men are really focused on that. They want to achieve that next step. We continue to make the NCAA tournament, but they want to go farther. The women want to represent themselves with more competitive matches. Although the GLIAC title is there, they set some more individual goals as a team. One of them is to play less three centers, meaning last year, we were struggling to have complete matches. We’re going to a lot of third sets because we are able to stay focused and close out matches. I think this year, the main goal for the women is to close out matches.