AVRIL KING
Social Media Manager
Looking back to this past year, 2016 was a historic year for Fredonia’s women’s tennis team. With a final record of 10-3, it was one of their most successful seasons yet. Now, the question that these women face is, “what’s next?”
At the end of the 2016-2017 school year, the team lost five seniors to graduation. With six returning players and seven new additions, it might be easy to write these next few months off as a building season. This is including the fact that freshman biology major, Taylor Marelli, will be unable to play due to a recent surgery. Instead, she will be serving as the team’s first student manager.
However, Olivia Miller, a junior exercise science major, is eager at the thought of having so many new people.
“I’m really excited to start seeing them excel,” said Miller, who was last season’s top player.
And excelling is exactly what the newest players intend to do.
“Our team definitely has potential. Coach definitely pushes us. We’re a good, skilled team; I can tell that we are competitive. I’m going to make the most out of my first year of college tennis,” said Taylor Rubens, a freshman who is majoring in childhood inclusive education with a concentration in social studies.
Rubens herself seems to have potential. Playing tennis, beginning in the eighth grade, she has had years of experience playing both singles and doubles.
The veteran players on the team are already considering what they would like the season’s end results to look like.
Chloe Karnisky, a speech pathology major and the only senior on the team this year, has stressed teamwork as a major factor for the success of the team.
“Everybody needs to work together. My main goal is to make sure that everybody is cohesive and is on the same level as each other,” said Karnisky. “Our skill set is very different from last season as a team.”
As for her own personal goals, Karnisky would like to do a better job of persevering against her challengers.
“I’m running a lot more consistently outside of practice. I just really want to outlast my opponents,” she said.
Alternatively, Miller is more concerned with her positivity rather than her physical fitness, especially considering tennis is a sport that is as mentally taxing as it is physically exhausting.
“Even if I lose a match, I have to still feel good about how I played,” Miller said.
In the end, the ladies on the women’s tennis team would simply like to work their hardest and play their best. And, if they can rack up a few wins along the way, their goals for the season would be met.