Coming off the Furman Fall Classic, the women’s tennis team has been preparing for the ITA All-American Championships. The matches will take place starting Oct. 1and will conclude Oct. 9.
The team’s doubles will start on Oct. 6, while sophomore Mary Anne MacFarlane will begin her journey through the qualifying singles on Oct. 4. The competition has three different stages: prequalifying draw, qualifying draw and main draw. This competition can also be seen as a preview for the Fall NCAA’s.
After collecting numerous wins over the past couple weekends, the team has been able to create some sort of positive momentum. Head coach Jenny Mainz said she believes her players can take their momentum from the Furman Fall Classic and carry it into the ITA All-American Championships.
“We’re getting better and playing better,” Mainz said. “We’ve gained a lot of confidence the past two weekends.”
Mainz said she believes the team has gained a lot of confidence over the past two weekends.
“We’ve been successful at the top of our lineup and competing for every point.” Mainz said.
The tennis team had competed in the Duke Fab Four Invite, where it faced North Carolina, Duke, Texas and Virginia before competing in the Furman Fall Classic. The Crimson Tide produced numerous wins at each competition, including a singles finals win at the Duke Fab Four by Macfarlane.
Macfarlane enters this meet ranked No. 27 nationally in women’s singles. Despite the team having a good performance at the Furman Fall Classic, Macfarlane said they are still able to keep their focus on their next competition and not dwell on the past.
“We live in the moment,” Macfarlane said. “You learn from wins and losses and take it one match at a time.”
Even though the women have been having great performances as of late, Coach Mainz acknowledges there is still room for improvement.
“We need to keep getting better,” Mainz said. ” We have a lot of work ahead, and we need to keep our nose to the grindstone.”
Heading into competition, Mainz remains optimistic about the team as they prepare for these championship matches.
“I think we’re capable of going and making a presence there,” Mainz said. “I wouldn’t place limitations on anyone.”
Macfarlane and the rest of the team look forward to their upcoming match and believe that nothing is out of the realm of possibility.
“The sky is the limit,” Macfarlane said. “If we do the right things, things will take care of themselves.”
