Falcons preparing for another memorable season
MEQUON, Wis. – It doesn't take long to realize what happened last year was enjoyable and the success must be remembered, but these are new circumstances and things change. Concordia University Wisconsin's Women's Tennis program is working hard during training camp to achieve more and collect more hardware by the end of the season.
A year after winning the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference regular season with an undefeated 10-0 record and the NACC Tournament in thrilling fashion, the Falcons are preparing to take the pressure of having the target on their backs in stride.
"I don't think we face that much pressure," head coach Steve Anschutz stated. "We are a pretty relaxed and laid back team. It really isn't the pressure, but more so we want to prove to everyone else that we are for sure the best with no doubt. We just have to prove ourselves again."
CUW surely proved last season that it was the best in the NACC and ended the season with a program-record 21 victories. They posted a .643 winning percentage in singles results and a .690 winning percentage in doubles play. Thus the reason why the dominance was witnessed.
The question becomes: how much do the expectations change for this season?
"I think the expectations obviously change," Anschutz said. "We had an amazing year last year, with a 21-7 record. I don't really look at statistics that much, but do look at awards. For instance, we want to win the NACC regular season and the NACC Tournament, and I think we need to just do better. I am a big believer in baby steps. We will have a different attitude and focus every day on what needs to get done to make us better."
CUW will be better this season, with five of the six student-athletes who had the majority of the results returning to the lineup, along with a talented group of freshmen. The depth of the lineup will make practice more competitive, resulting in possibly another championship run.
Some coaches take their experienced roster and let the upperclassmen oversee the team dynamics, but Anschutz is more of a hands-on type coach who sees things differently. He is a CUW alum and knows the being good isn't enough and getting comfortable won't happen under his watch.
"I am actually going to be more involved this year because I don't want them to get comfortable," Anschutz expressed. "I don't want them going out there and taking it easy thinking they can just win. I am going to push them harder in practice to raise the bar and what happened last year won't be good enough this year.
"This year is going to be different for a variety of reasons, but one is that we have some very talented freshmen joining us," Anschutz said. "We have so much depth on our roster and we aren't just six deep like in the past. We could play any one of 10 players and feel just as confident."
Usually in tennis a coach will find the core six players for doubles and singles competition and stick with that lineup the entire season. With a possibility of 10 players getting a chance at those spots, training camp is going to feature fierce competition each and every day.
"My thought right now is to let the players battle it out for the top six spots," Anschutz said with a smile. "I have been hitting with them and observing and taking notes, and it would be impossible for me to pick the top six subjectively. It would be so hard for me to do that because some players surprise me with their talent each and every practice."
Only time will tell which players rise to the top of the roster and earn a spot on the court during competition. More so, can the Falcons put together another memorable season and walk away with the hardware when the pressure is ramped up?
