The BG women’s tennis team will face the physically grueling task of competing in three matches in three days, facing Duquesne, Xavier and Detroit Universities in three separate dual meets on three separate days.
“I was trying to remember the last time we had three home matches in three days and I can’t remember,” said BG coach Penny Dean. “It had to have been at least eight years ago.”
Last year the Falcons had a similar task on the road when they traveled to Indiana to play Indiana State, Butler and DePaul in three consecutive days.
“It will be physically grueling to play three tough matches, but we’ve been practicing for months so I think we’re ready,” Dean said.
The team has increased their conditioning this past week, according to BG’s Jenna Nussbaum. They have been doing more running and outdoor workouts at the student recreation center to help prepare for these grueling weekends. The Falcons have also been focusing on eating and sleeping right as well as stretching a lot to get their bodies ready for the weekend.
The team appears to be ready and claims they have done a lot more than just prepare the past couple weeks for this weekend. During the fall, the team competes in multiple tournaments that require them to do more than three matches in three days. In fact, last year the team competed in a tournament at Northwestern and competed in nine matches in three days – three times as many as they will play this weekend.
BG’s Andrea Volle also points to the fact that as younger kids they played a lot of tennis matches in a short amount of time.
“A lot of it is getting the mentality that every match is equally important and having that grinding mentality,” Nussbaum said.
The team that BG seems to have a slightly stronger focus toward in all of this preparation is Xavier. Xavier has traditionally been a tough school and usually provides for a good match, according to Volle. Last year, the team beat Xavier 4-3 and expects this years match to be every bit as close.
“Xavier is a huge match – they tend to be a team that is a rival with us and in the past has given us good matches, so it will be the toughest match mentally and physically,” Nussbaum said.
Although tennis is played in singles and doubles, the girls will not have to face the pressure alone. BG considers itself very team oriented and as always, anyone not competing will be on the sidelines cheering on their teammates.
“I love it,” Menoff said. “It’s great to have them there and cheering you on. It makes it easier to run after those balls.”
Dean is sure the team is ready and is excited to take on these three teams this weekend.
“It’s a big weekend, we need to be focused,” Dean said. “One of our things right now is being ready for every match.”
