By MAYAN PAZ Photo by PARKER NISBETH
Tiger Media Network
Fort Hays State University’s women’s tennis team has finished their competitions for the fall semester and will head into a four-month period of training before returning to competition late in February. While the fall semester was compiled mainly with scrimmages and unofficial matches, once the team starts to compete again in the spring, they will officially enter the pre-season matches ahead of the MIAA tournament.
Although not all of the matches in the fall are considered in the official rankings for the team, it was still an opportunity for them to give the entire roster a chance to play and prove themselves ahead of the spring season.
“We had a chance to test different players and adjust the seedings to see what works best for us,” said Head Coach Brian Flax. “Some players that are not usually in the playing squad had a chance to feature in matches, and some others who are in the playing squad but not necessarily our top three players had a chance as well.”
Flax mentioned Bethan Gill, a sophomore from Wales, as a player who is fighting for a spot on the playing squad and played exceptionally well this fall. Gill finished the fall undefeated, winning all of her 13 matches, and surely will be one of the leaders of the team during the spring.
“We had a good fall in general as a team,” Gill said. “I felt good with my performance as well, and it was nice that we were able to beat some teams that we haven’t beaten in a while.”
The players were able to achieve triumphs over players from MIAA schools such as Emporia State and Newman, which they will face again in the spring.
“We have some time now to work on our game and give the players a chance to play each other in practice to prepare for the spring,” Flax said. “They know that this is an opportunity to show that they deserve a spot on the traveling squad.”
Gill also addressed the upcoming training period as an opportunity to improve her game.
“I need to work on some aspects of my game and do better work with conditioning in the gym,” she said.
In the spring, conference matches will begin at the end of March, but the team will hold some scrimmages earlier.
“We will resume competition in late February,” Flax said. “We will have the chance to make our final decisions about the roster.”
The team lost all of their conference matches last season, but the players are confident that they can make a change. Gill spoke about her expectations.
“Many of the matches we lost last year were close, and we improved a lot. We can definitely win and do a lot better this year,” she said.
Flax and Gill feel that the team has made significant progress in the fall, and with the opportunity to focus on practice for the next few months, the team is excited to approach the spring semester and outperform their opponents.