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Weekly senior spotlight feature was written by Connor Wagner for CUWFalcons.com
She celebrates, hears the congratulatory messages, hugs her teammates and poses for, yet, another memorable photo. This time around isn't any less special than the others, but it still feels good to hear – 'Concordia Wisconsin, you are the NACC regular season champions!'
Senior Hannah Tresedder and her Falcon teammates won their third-consecutive title this past Saturday and haven't lost in conference play since this run of success began three years ago.
"I'm extremely blessed to be on this team and to have gotten a chance to win the conference title," Tresedder says, reiterating what she and her teammates said about the past two months, and the year before that and the year before that.
The Kingsford, Mich., native and the Falcons have won the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference title not once, not twice, but three times in a row. They will play for their third-straight NACC Tournament Championship on May 6.
"I'm really proud of my team and all the hard work we put in to get to where we're at," she emphasized. "It's always exciting to go out and win a conference championship, but to do it three times is just really special."
For Tresedder, her journey to becoming a three-time NACC champion began long before she had ever heard of CUW.
"I first picked up tennis at around the age of five or six. I went to a summer tennis camp that began in first grade and continued until I was in high school. My whole family plays tennis so we would often go as a family and play tennis together. They're honestly the best group of fans I could ask for. My family and my fiancé are my biggest supporters. They've come to almost every single one of my matches and I'm extremely thankful to have the fan group and support system that I have."
While Tresedder's family may provide support from off the court during her matches, the time they spent playing together has helped her grow into one of the best players in the NACC. Having been named All-NACC in singles and doubles each year, she accumulated 103 career victories between singles and doubles play, helping to lead the Falcons to an unbeaten record in NACC play, yet again in 2017.
While she may rank tied for second all-time in program history with 59 career doubles wins and tied for fourth with 44 singles victories, the righty knows she can always improve.
"I'd have to say my biggest strengths are my consistency and quickness," Tresedder explained. "I can get to a lot of shots and keep the points going longer than my opponent. My weakness, some of the time, is my serve. I need to work on having more spin and hitting less of a flat serve. I don't really model my game after anyone and grew up watching my older siblings play quite a bit, but we each have our own unique playing styles and we all do what works best for each of us."
While the physical aspects of tennis are by no means a walk in the park, Tresedder finds that mental aspects of the game just as, if not more challenging to overcome.
"Tennis is a very mentally demanding game and if my mental game is not strong then it can affect my physical game," she said of the difficulties about playing at a high level. "I focus on being confident, keeping my mindset positive and not getting upset or losing focus on the court. While on the court during key conference matches, I have had to keep my focus on being in charge. During the matches we played to win the conference, I had it in my head to start out strong and not give the opponent a chance. I focused on being consistent and hitting good, smart shots and it turned out in my favor."
Winning championships has quickly become a tradition for the Falcons. However, there is one tradition that the players and coaches partake in each and every match.
"Our team prays before every match," says Tresedder. "It's been a tradition all four years I've been on the team. The seniors pray for the team and then we go out and do the best that we can to give Him the glory.'
