Women's Tennis making a statement

Congratulations are in order for Concordia Wisconsin Women's Tennis program again, as they finished the fall schedule with an undefeated record of 10-0. More importantly, they won their second-consecutive Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference regular season with an unblemished record.

The Falcons have been working hard over the past two-plus months to achieve this goal, which is one of many on the list for the year. Last season they had just one hiccup in the fall, however, it was a non-conference match that was preparing them for the NACC regular season title.

Each member of the team was prepared and ready with improved skills from working on their game over the summer. "Each of the players came back this fall stronger than they were last season," head coach Steve Anschutz said when talking about the difference in the team.

Practice makes perfect, they say, but in this case, it greatly improved the team's abilities and how they competed against other schools.

"Practices were very focused," said the Falcons lone senior Michaela Wagner. "One week we would focus on doubles, then the next we would work on singles. Coach Anschutz would make rules during our practices to help us improve our skills and make us better players."

Concordia Wisconsin works extremely well together, evident by its 31-7 record over the last year-and-a-half. With team bonding activities and being around each other outside of practices, this season the Falcons came into the fall in sync with each other ready to take on the toughest opponents.

"The doubles teams work great with each other," Wagner stated. "The entire team really supports each other and we do our best to keep everyone calm and keep spirits up."

With this being Wagner's (Oswego, Ill.) last year as a Falcon, the undefeated record has been a great way to end her last fall season. "It was a great feeling finally getting to the top. The entire team has worked hard to get to where we are," Wagner said.

Although the results of this season differ from those of last season, the team's attitude and motivation haven't changed drastically. "If anything, last season's record pushed this team this year," Anschutz explained. "They got so close last year that they came into the season wanting the undefeated title even more."

During the 2015 fall season, the team's only loss was against Carroll (9-0), and this year they defeated Carroll in a close 5-4 victory to snap a decade losing streak against the Pioneers. Also, this season the team swept NACC rival, Edgewood, in convincing 9-0.

After working very hard to achieve one of many goals this season by winning the NACC regular season title, the Falcons have a five-month break until they start their spring season. With such a successful fall season, the team is looking to continue their success into the spring portion of the schedule.

"We will play harder teams in the spring, who often have ranked players and can even be ranked teams," Anschutz said. "There is always room to improve, but we have many strengths. It's all about the mindset you have when you go into a match."

"The idea going into a match is to know your opponent," Wagner explained. "You can't go in thinking that you're going to lose; you just have to know that you're competing against a tough opponent and you have to bring all that you have and focus."