Hello all, we start our spring season this Saturday, Jan 23 against the UW-Badgers at 3pm at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. There will certainly be some terrific players to watch. The Badgers are a team that can contend for a Big Ten title this season. They are currently ranked #32 in the nation in D-1, but are expected to rise from that point as their season gets underway. They have the #6 and #32 singles players in the nation who combine as the #3 doubles duo in the nation. They also have some incredible depth, so the Warhawks are certainly looking forward to it.
The men started official practices this week, but had some fun leading up to the semester starting. Last Tuesday, the men were invited by some Alumni to join them to their platform tennis club. Brett Smith, Ted Stuckslager, and Dave Recknagel showed them the art of paddle, and let me tell you it was a blast. Then on Saturday a group of around 30 alumni came and hit with the men’s team in the field house, then enjoyed some pizza, ping pong, and socializing afterward. Finally on Sunday both the men and the women headed out for their annual trip to the Wisconsin Dell for an overnight adventure. On Sunday night they stayed in the cabin watching movies and playing games and checked out Kalahari’s new theme park for some laser-tag action. On Monday they woke up to a healthy breakfast of eggs and piles of bacon, before heading to the water park for tubing, floating, surfing and sliding (and a rousing game of water basketball). What a great way to mentally get ready for the spring season.
The men will be thrown into the teeth of their season that will continue through May. The women are still doing captains practices until March 1, but then the action for them will heat up again starting with a trip with the men’s team to take on Gustavus. At the end of March both teams are heading to Hilton Head Island to play a bunch of strong nationally ranked teams. Throughout April play continues for both teams and will hopefully culminate with both teams and some individuals being invited to the NCAA tournament in May.
