The first competitive outing of the year for any sport tends to have shining and teachable moments. The women’s tennis team certainly experienced both over the weekend at Southern Illinois.
The women played their first tournament of the year Saturday and Sunday, going 8-3 and 5-9 respectively against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, St. Louis and Eastern Illinois, and head coach Matt Tyler had only positive things to say.
“It was a good weekend,” Tyler said. “[The] first tournament out is kind of an experimental thing for us, working through some nerves and some jitters, and in some situations, new doubles teams, so it was a great kind of evaluation weekend for us.”
Senior Ashley Thai, who went 3-1 in three doubles matches and one singles match, agreed that the first tournament typically has its rough patches. However, the senior said she was pleasantly surprised was the weekend’s outcome.
“It’s the first tournament, so a lot of us aren’t super happy with the way we came out because it’s been awhile since we’ve competed,” Thai said. “But honestly, after watching everyone play, I think we’re going to do great this season, especially in the spring. I think everyone’s playing really well, and we’re excited.”
Thai attributed the weekend’s overall success to the “team atmosphere.”
“The team atmosphere means everything,” Thai said. “Yes, we play individually, but we’re all there supporting each other, and I think that adds a lot to the experience. When you’re happy and joyful out here you’re going to play well.”
Thai also noted that Tyler has a lot to do with building the culture around the team. According to Thai, Tyler encourages the team to have fun and implements team meditation sessions, to help the players calm down and enjoy each game.
“It comes from me being a complete mental case,” Tyler said. “Being an athlete and in my experiences with sports psychology and how important that is, we use visualization and relaxation techniques prior to every single practice and competition. I really think that has helped us raise our level [of performance].”
While the women continue to perform well in singles, Thai and Tyler said the emphasis in practice and in matches moving forward is to earn the doubles point. Tyler has been working with new doubles lineups and said he believes he has found a new combination that works in sophomore Malini Wijesinghe and freshman Natalia Barbery.
“They’re playing really well together,” Tyler said. “It was a matchup that we pretty much put together from the beginning. Similar personalities get along really well, which is a huge part of doubles teams. Both of them have a great sense for the game, too. [There’s] always a learning curve, too, getting used to a new partner, but they’ve jumped into a rhythm right away.”
Bradley won’t play until next Friday when they host the Bradley Invitational. While Thai and the rest of the Braves are looking forward to playing, Thai said she is in no rush.
“After the weekend, [Tyler] sat us down and said, ‘We need to focus on having fun out here, and we all are out here because we enjoy being on the court,’” Thai said. “Then he ended with, ‘It goes by fast,’ and it brought me to tears because it does go so fast … It’s an unreal feeling knowing it’s your last time out here.”
