Women’s Tennis Starts Season Upside-Down

2008 Women’s Tennis Season Preview

As Westmont women’s tennis begins the 2008 season, they bring a very different look to the Abbott Tennis Courts.  Three freshmen will fill the top half of the Warriors’ singles lineup - a development which has taken head coach Kathy LeSage by surprise.

"Prior to our challenge matches at the beginning of each year, I like to write down my projection of what the lineup will be," said LeSage. "I’m not usually wrong, but this year I can just throw that list completely out.  Almost everything I had projected was reversed."

Team captains Jennie Dunn and Kristen Lee are delighted with the strength of this year’s recruiting class. 

"Last year was a lot of fun and a building year," said Dunn, the teams only senior, "but we were not as strong as we are now.  I would love to end up my college tennis career going to nationals and I think these girls are going to help us get there.  Everyone gets along really well.  They are all team players and there are no individual competitions between any of them.  I’m really proud of them for that attitude."

"The team is great," said Lee. "We have a solid line up.  The freshmen came in strong and up on their games.  They just came out of tournaments and are definitely tournament tough which is what we needed.  We don’t often get tournament tough players.  Jennie and I love it."

"We are definitely young and skilled," agreed LeSage, "which is different than a year ago when I don’t think we had the skill to be hopeful about our year.  However, the inexperience will be what makes or breaks us.  We only have one player on the team with more than one year’s experience.  That inexperience can do one of two things.  Enthusiasm and excitement can shine, but at crunch time, inexperience can sometimes breakdown.  We will see what we are made of in those close matches.  But it is exciting to be at this point of hopefulness."

Dunn and Lee have accepted the challenge of helping shepherd the newcomers through their first year on the team.

"It’s interesting being the only senior," said Dunn. "I think the girls look to me for experience and how to deal with certain situations.  They were all asking me for advice before the first match.  I’d never been in a leadership role like this before.  I want to emphasize that I’m not leading them - we are all leading each other and carrying each other.  That’s really important as a team. I want them to feel comfortable coming to me for support, but at the same time, they can teach me just as much as I teach them."

"I want to help the freshmen feel a part of things," said Lee. "Spiritually, I want to help us keep God as our focus and acknowledging him.  That’s my number one goal for myself this year. Waking up and having him be the first thing on my mind and the last thing on my mind."

"Our theme verse is Philippians 4:19 which talks about how God will satisfy all of your needs," said Dunn. "We are trying to put the emphasis on humility and humbling ourselves in wins and losses.  We’re focused on allowing God to take away any fear we might have going into a match and to bring us together as sisters in Christ and on building up each other."

"Kristen and Jeannie are very mature and great leaders," said LeSage. "I have a great relationship with each of them.  They are looking out for the best interest for the younger players whom they have taken under their wings.  Their leadership provides the stability that the younger players need."

The Players

Playing at the number one singles position for the Warriors is Lauren Combs of Orangevale who attended Loretto High School in Sacramento.

"Lauren stereotypes herself as a doubles player," said LeSage. "Something happened between the fall and coming back in January and she is on fire.  It seems Lauren has made up her mind to take on singles.  She is playing well tactically and is motivated.  She has great skills which we will look to refine along with some of her strategies.  A hard-hitting baseliner, Lauren also has good net skills but doesn’t attack as much at the net as she ought to.  She will also factor in at number one or two doubles."

Ilissa Mathews from Coto de Caza will take up the challenge at number two singles.  Mathews has perfected her doubles game by teaming up with her father, former Westmont men’s tennis player Doug Mathews, taking third in the nation as a father-daughter team and winning the sectional championship three straight years.  Matthews attended Tesoro High School.

"Ilissa is very skilled and very fluid.  She’s pretty to watch," said LeSage. "Because she is petite, she is unassuming.  You don’t think she can wallop the ball, but she can.  Ilissa plays hard for the sake of playing hard but needs to develop some competitive edginess.  She lacks experience against top players but deserves to be near the top of the lineup because of her skills.  Ilissa has a lot of experience in doubles and will play at number one or two this year."

The number three spot will be filled by Erin McGurty of Atascadero High School where she was undefeated as a number one singles player her senior year.

"Erin is one of two jokesters on our team and helps us keep it light," reported LeSage. "She is quite a competitor.  Erin doesn’t drill well, but she competes well.  She beats good players based on her ability to fight and do whatever it takes to win.  Erin is a baseliner who is very scrappy - a little unorthodox but very effective."

Lee will play in the number four position as the season begins.  As a freshman, Lee played at numbers two and three singles and had a record of 6-15.  Her doubles record was 12-8.

"I was so excited about Kristen in the fall because she was hitting some amazing balls after being away from tennis for a year," said LeSage. "I didn’t see any residual from the injury that kept her from playing.  But doing those same shots in challenge matches proved to be problematic because she’s lacking confidence in competitive situations.  I hope she will learn over time to just relax and make her shots.  She has such ability.  She is very talented and is moving well.  Kristen lost some challenge matches to freshmen but has a very mature attitude and is analyzing it very realistically."

"Coming back has been a lot slower process than I thought it would be," acknowledged Lee. "Getting back mentally is really tough and definitely a humbling experience.  You know that you are capable of playing so much better than you are.  A year and one-half goes by and you don’t quite have it anymore.  Learning to focus again is part of the process.  It’s hard being patient when it doesn’t go your way which seems like the majority of the time.  So it’s a humbling experience but the team is helping me out with that."

Christina Klein returns to the Warriors for her junior season after sitting out her sophomore year.  As a freshman, Klein posted a singles record of 11-11 playing at number three, four and five.  Her doubles record was an impressive 14-6 playing mostly at number two and three.

"It’s good to have Christina back," said LeSage, "She has been eager to take on a new game plan and that is attacking.  She is solid from the baseline but she has very good net skills.  I have been working with her since freshman year to look for the opportunity to attack and finish the point with a volley.  This fall, I saw her instincts kicking in to capitalize on a short ball and attack without my even suggesting it.  She just picked up where we left off her freshman year.

"Christina is very athletic and tennis knowledgeable and picks up things very quickly," continued LeSage. "She has taken some good strides toward where we want her to go. Christina will probably be our top doubles player because she has such good hands.  She has a very good doubles sense. She understands that you need to attack, cut off angles and use touch at the right times.  Christina is the other jokester and keeps the team laughing with her sarcastic wit."

The sixth spot in the singles lineup will be filled by Dunn, the team’s only returning starter. Dunn comes into the season with a career singles record of 31-32 and a doubles record of 31-34.

"Jennie is playing well," said LeSage. "She is the stable force on our team.  Jennie is very easy going, works hard and is most willing to play with anyone on our team.  She will probably play at number two or three in doubles with one of our freshmen.   

"Jennie is an aggressive baseliner with a really big forehand," said LeSage. "She is moving better than ever.  My challenge to her is to use greater variety.  Jennie recognizes that in tennis you can have a weapon, but that weapon is enhanced when you throw in a change up.  It’s the same as a pitcher in baseball.  Jennie’s forehand can become neutralized by constancy.  When she mixes in a short, sharp angle, all of a sudden her opponent does not know what is coming or going.  That’s our project and it means some risk taking. I’ll encourage Jennie to do that it in our early matches so that when it is a match that is really going to matter it will be a little more comfortable."

Sophomore Anna Molinari looks to get an opportunity to play this year after missing all of last season.

"As a freshman, Anna worked out with us in the fall and I was hopeful because she had good skills," said LeSage. "She showed a lot of coachability and could quickly implement suggestions.  But as we trained, her shoulder became a bigger problem. She ended up having surgery.  This last fall, she was still recovering and hardly came out to practice with us at all.

"Anna is just now able to serve overhand again," continued LeSage. "Her groundstroke skills are very good and her net skills are not bad either.  As her serve regains strength, we will be able to factor her into doubles.  She is a delight and easy to get along with and we are really glad to have her on the team."

Returning to this year’s team is sophomore Emily Hughes who played in 18 singles matches last year and seven doubles matches.

"Emily was in Mexico all of last fall," said LeSage. "She has a lot of improvement in front of her but she has the best attitude.  I could never ask for a number seven or eight player with a better attitude.  Her enthusiasm and work ethic are at the top.  She just doesn’t have the playing experience or the skills that her teammates have, but she goes the extra mile and tries to take lessons outside of practice.  I have worked with her on technique more than anyone.   She has a never-say-die attitude."

The Schedule

"I like our schedule because we start against less powerful teams and build up," said LeSage. "We conclude with one of our most important matches against Point Loma Nazarene.  I am hopeful that at the end of our season we will be playing our best."

After starting the year with matches against La Verne and California Lutheran, the Warriors will play The Master’s in a non-conference affair.  Golden State Athletic Conference play will begin on Friday, February 15, when the Warriors will travel to Costa Mesa to take on the Lions of Vanguard which LeSage called, "a very important match."

GSAC teams will play each other only once in conference this year as they battle for one of four regional playoff positions.  As usual, the GSAC is loaded with quality teams.  Fresno Pacific is ranked at number two in the NAIA national pre-season poll with Vanguard at number four, Azusa Pacific at number five, California Baptist at number ten, Point Loma Nazarene at number 12 and Concordia at number 21. 

"My goal is to be a top-four team in conference which earns us a spot in the regional championships," said LeSage.  My ultimate goal is to be at nationals, whether we get there by winning regionals or by invitation due to our rankings."

In February and early March, Westmont will host four out-of-area teams beginning with Alberta on February 20.  San Jose State will make their way to Westmont on February 29.  The second week of March, Westmont will host the University of the South and Vassar.

Mid-March will see the Warriors travel to NCAA Division I opponent Cal State Fullerton and then travel to Palm Springs for non-conference matches with Point Loma Nazarene and Vanguard.

"Last year we played Cal Baptist and Point Loma on our spring break and it was treated much more casually by both teams," said LeSage. "Although it has some national implications, the matches do not count towards our GSAC standings."

The regional championships take place on May 2-3 in Fresno.  The 20-team NAIA National Championship will be held May 12-16 in Mobile, Alabama.