The Gophers women’s tennis team is now on hiatus until October 9-14, when they will compete in the ITA Central Regionals in Memphis, TN.
Two weekends ago, Lois Arterberry’s second Minnesota squad finished 13-5 in doubles and 21-5 in singles in the three-day annual Gopher Invitational tournament at the school’s Baseline Tennis Center.
Six newcomers debuted in the tournament, and five of them were victorious.
“Just a lot of new energy to the team this year compared to what we had last year,” Arterberry told the MSR after the event. “Honesty, with six new faces, it was really just seeing how they compete and just kind of learning what style of players they are and just what they do in an environment as a freshman. They have not competed at a collegiate event, so just [to] see how they react to an environment where everyone is loud and high.
“Are they going to get fired up? Are they going to go on a shell? How are they going to handle the pressure? ,” added Minnesota’s only Black female head coach. “How are they going to handle just being coached by us and trying to challenge them to do different things?”
To this casual tennis reporter, keeping track of matches virtually being played at the same time, all day long seemed nerve-wracking and exhausting. But Arterberry, her assistant Anastasia Pennington, and recent hire Venkat Manne as volunteer coach have it totally under control.
“Just having that third coach just makes a huge difference,” stated Arterberry. “I like to try to get to everyone as much as I can. But sometimes, there are times when a player might want a different type of coach… and the player just connects with that coach a little bit better.
“So, for us, is just whatever the player’s needs are,” continued the head coach.
During the brief hiatus, Arterberry said she and the coaches will use the time to fine-tune things as the Gophers finish up the fall season.
Briefly assessing her team’s tournament performance, “Honestly, it’s really not about winning or losing for us, but it’s more like just understanding what we have,” noted Arterberry. “Our fall season ends on November 10.”
Finally, Arterberry says she likes how her Gopher squad is shaping up.
“Last year, for us, it was just sort of setting the foundation,” she concluded. “This year, we feel like the foundation has set and now we’re just ready to compete. We know it’s going to be tough.
“We have a really tough spring schedule but we feel like we are slightly better this year. Just being a little bit more competitive this year, a little bit more experienced than what we had last year.”