Women’s tennis to face Weber State
Twenty-eight days of practice, preparation and looking forward to playing again. The USU women netters are ready to get back in action.
It’s been four weeks since the Utah State women’s tennis team pulled off a 4-3 victory over Weber State University giving the Aggies their first win over the Wildcats in team history.
Having been off since the win, Utah State resumes play Wednesday in a rematch against Weber in Ogden.
“We should just go in with confidence,” Aggie coach Chris Wright said. “We know it’s going to be a tough match and we can’t go down there and be overconfident. They’re going to want to try to get that win back.”
Aggie Carolyn Larsen said, “I’m excited. We want to show them it wasn’t a fluke.”
The break has been difficult for the team, but it has also given them opportunities, Larsen said.
“The break has given us an opportunity to work on our shots,” she said.
Wright said the team has also had time to work on things they couldn’t have had they been playing matches.
“We talked some about different tactics and made some fundamental suggestions about different areas of the game,” he said.
In practice the Aggies have primarily been playing scrimmage matches and haven’t been having players challenge for playing positions on the team, Wright said.
“We’ve got people playing solid where they’ve been playing so we haven’t really juggled them around too much,” he said.
Having defeated Weber already this season, Wright said it has given the team confidence, as well as motivating the players who lost their individual matches.
“Last time we lost at No. 1 and No. 2 [singles] and I’d like to see those guys jump back. We also lost at No. 5,” he said. “I have every bit of confidence in those three that they can go out there and win their matches. I’d love to see everybody expect to win their spot and not think it’s going to fall on the shoulders of their teammate.”
Larsen, who plays No. 5 singles and lost her match against Weber, said getting a chance at a rematch has given her motivation.
Wright said he thinks the team is really looking forward to playing after so much practice.
“The effort [in practice] has been good,” he said. “I think they’re anxious to play. We shouldn’t be flat.”
Weber should also be looking for some revenge against the Aggies, Wright said.
“It was a close match and they know that they were there,” Wright said. “At the same time I feel we didn’t play our best tennis, but I was pleased with the effort. I know it’s going to be a battle.”