Natalia Maynetto was a freshman when Alabama first participated in the championships. Two years later, the junior said everyone is on the same page and ready to compete.
“My freshman year was the first time we had ever gone and we’ve been every year I’ve been here so it’s a great opportunity, great honor to be able to be in the tournament,” she said. “We’re excited. I feel like the years before we were just so excited to get in and win our regional tournament because it was so tough. Now, we just want to go win it. We think we can do it.”
Alabama has experience – everyone in the lineup has been to this tournament before and is familiar with the competition. Maynetto, along with junior Maya Jansen and senior Emily Zabor have been to the indoor championships all three years.
Coach Jenny Mainz built the program from the ground up and saw her team flourish in the past few years. Mainz said it’s a great feeling to be rewarded with the opportunity to compete.
“Going to national indoors for the third year, that’s the best of the best,” she said. “I feel privileged to be there. We’ve got a lot of work to do and we’ve got a lot of work in front of us. But the team is excited for the opportunity. They are opportunities. We earned [them] and got them. We put ourselves in a good position and we have great opportunities.”
Although Mainz hasn’t decided the official doubles team lineup, she said everyone has been working hard and continuing to be more aggressive on the court.
Zabor, the lone senior of the team, said the team is more mature and composed this year when compared to previous years.
“Being in an environment where we play 15 of the best teams in the country and everyone had to fight hard to get to this tournament and getting to play again with tough competition for three or four days in a row always makes you better as a team,” she said. “Going into national indoors this year, we definitely have the opportunity to do extremely well.”
