Aggie women netters seeking winning record; take on ISU
A winning record is at stake for the Utah State women’s tennis team.
The Aggies will be looking to improve to 2-1 when they travel to Pocatello to take on Idaho State at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the ISU indoor courts.
After dropping its last match at BYU, USU will be seeking redemption, said Aggie co-captain Caroline Pollock.
“We want to take the next match so that we do have a winning record,” she said. “We want to just take this last loss and learn from it.”
And learning is something the Aggies have been doing, making adjustments and working on components of their games.
“It wasn’t like we did everything wrong,” said Head Coach Chris Wright. “We did a lot of things right and we’ve just got to make a few little adjustments that will help us on Wednesday.”
Among the things Utah State will be working on are changes in movement, shot selection and game plan.
Movement, not the stroke, is often the cause for missing a shot, Wright said. If the players can improve on their movement and stay balanced, he said the shots will improve.
“There are a million ways to miss a shot rather than just ‘my timing is off,'” Wright said.
As for shot selection, Wright compared it to basketball. He said players don’t normally pull up for an outside shot when they have an open layup and the same logic applies to tennis — a player should take the best shot possible.
“Everybody does that from time to time, goes for a shot they have no right going for in that situation,” he said. “There is a time and place for each shot and you have to know when to hit each one. Everybody gets caught up in the emotion of a point and they go for more than they need to at times.”
Besides physical play, the mental game and strategy are going to be a big part of the upcoming match for the Aggies. Wright said the players need to be thinking out strategies and preparing for different shots.
“You’ve got to be thinking about your game plan during the week, not just at practice, but you think through different scenarios,” he said.
Although the Aggies lost their last match, they were competitive, which has been a positive preparing for ISU.
“It kind of made us realize we’re not very far behind the top schools,” said player Jill Smith. “There were just small differences. I think we were right in there with it and it was just good to see that.”
Pollock said, “I think even though we lost every match, we know we were in it. There was a chance we could just stay tough and pull through it.”
Unlike BYU, a team the Aggies had not played since 1989, they are at least somewhat familiar with Idaho State, playing the Bengals twice last
season.
The Aggies won 4-3 both at home and in Pocatello.
“I think it’s always going to be a battle,” Wright said. “They’re always a good team. You think Idaho State, they’re probably not going to be good at tennis, but they won the Big Sky [Conference] championship just a couple of years back.”
For Smith, though, being a freshman and not knowing much about Idaho State is positive thing.
“I don’t know what to expect,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll just get good results from our practicing and go out there and expect the best. Not knowing your opponent really helps out because you don’t know what to expect, and you just go out and play your game.”
All eight Aggie team members have seen action this spring, but the lineup is not definite. Against BYU the Aggies were without sophomore Haley Hawkins due to illness. It is unknown whether she will compete Wednesday.
The Bengals will be in action for the second time this season. They defeated Weber State 6-1 on
Jan. 22.
–slbk5@cc.usu.edu