The Bradley Invitational, the women’s tennis team’s only home event of the fall, serves as the team’s final tune up before the Missouri Valley Conference individual championships, which take place next week. For seniors Ashley Thai and Ariel Dechter and junior Aimee Manfredo, the results of last weekend proved to be the best possible tune-up they could imagine.
Thai continued her undefeated 2016 fall campaign as she cruised to a flight three, or third tier, singles title, while Dechter and Manfredo teamed up in flight two doubles to earn a title. The winning performances highlighted a weekend that head coach Matt Tyler said he characterizes as a positive tournament.
“I thought it was [a] really good [weekend],” Tyler said. “We played a lot of tennis and a lot of really good teams. I was really impressed with the level of competition. These are all teams we’re going to see again in the spring, so I think this was a really good opportunity for us to see what we need to work on and take that into practice.”
Tyler attributed the success of Thai, Dechter and Manfredo to their high confidence. He said when everyone on the team is confident, they can be difficult to beat.
“If they believe they can win and they feel good about the way they’re playing, then I give them a shot against anyone that we play, quite honestly,” Tyler said. “Ashley right now has a lot of confidence, and everyone on our team right now is capable of playing at that level. Once you get to that level, it’s all about belief in yourself.”
Thai dominated the flight two singles title match with a definitive 6-2, 6-4 victory, while Dechter and Manfredo had to work a little harder to earn their title as they beat a St. Louis duo 8-6. The doubles partners attribute their success to the chemistry they have built with each other.
“I couldn’t do it without my partner here,” Manfredo said. “She brings me up when I get down on myself on the court. She’s able to pull me out of my slump so I can play my game.”
Dechter said she’s having the most fun on the court when she’s playing with Manfredo, and playing doubles provides a different perspective on the game.
“She really helps me to have fun and remember why I’m out here – to enjoy it and just get every second I can out of it,” Dechter said. “I think it also gives me someone to bounce ideas off of because there’s a lot of strategy involved, so it’s nice after every point to talk to someone, or if you’re down, someone is there to bring you back up.”
Dechter’s title over the weekend wasn’t her only accomplishment. With her latest singles win, the senior moves within one win of the all-time Bradley singles wins record. Dechter said this was a goal she’s always had.
“I didn’t realize I’d get so close to the record so early in the season,” Dechter said. “I just try not to think about the numbers though, and just try to enjoy the experience as much as I can with my teammates. Growing up, tennis [was] a really individualized sport, so right now it’s nice to have a team to be around.”
Tyler said while the doubles team of Dechter and Manfredo was impressive, the overall display of doubles play wasn’t quite what the team wanted.
“There’s work to be done for sure,” Tyler said. “I think some people played well and some people didn’t play their best tennis, and I think that’s always going to be the case. Once we get to the dual match season, that’s something we talk about a lot … our players who are playing well need to help the other players try to raise their levels and be aware of when you’re not playing well and knowing what to do to correct those things.”
Tyler said he believes there are many players on the team capable of winning an MVC individual title next week. The key to preparing for that event, he said, is to box out distractions as best as possible and to have great practices over the course of next week.
“Our mental preparation, more so than our physical preparation, will be key to our success,” Tyler said.
The women travel to Evansville, Indiana, Oct. 8-10 for the MVC individual championships.
