The Shippensburg University tennis team played two off-season tennis matches on Saturday, shutting out Hagerstown Community College 9-0 but coming up short against Harford Community College in a 7-2 loss. Junior Emily Cox and freshman Emilie Luttman brought home a sweeping 8-0 victory in their doubles match against Hagerstown.
Meanwhile, Julia Saintz, known for her distinct, impressive serving technique, performed well against both colleges, minus a loss in the doubles match against Harford.
“My serve has been really, really on some days, and really off on others. In this game, I hit two or three aces, but then I hit two double faults. So, I need to work on my serving consistency. Also, we need to get under the ball. The coach is always trying to remind us to get under the ball, you know, sort of scoop it like ice cream over the net.” said Julia Saintz, after an impressive doubles victory against Hagerstown. She and her partner Brittnee Buckley operated like a well-oiled machine in the rapid match.
Since ace server senior Julia Saintz will be out of the picture next year, the team will have to do some rearranging in order to bring in wins, but it looks like freshman Emilie Luttman is shaping up to be a contender. With Luttman and two competitive freshmen on the team, tennis at Shippensburg University has a bright future for the next few years.
“I feel really encouraged about next season. The people that are coming coupled with the incoming freshmen make me feel that we are going to have a very strong team next year,” Coach Amanda Addlesberger said.
One of the challenges of the coming season will be communication between the shifting rosters of players. The new partners are faced with the challenge of learning each other’s different communication styles.
“Because we’ve had players coming out and in, we’ve had to move around on the lineup and get different partners. Right now, we are developing a very consistent way of communicating in practice,” freshman Sarah Kramer said.
The tennis team will need good communication, as they get ready to play a fierce match against Millersville University on April 1
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