The women’s tennis team look to continue the success they’ve had this season at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional in Kalamazoo, MI starting on Friday and ending on Sunday.
Head coach Jon Miedema believes the team strength will come from their depth.
“We have a deep, talented team” said head coach Jon Miedema.
Senior and captain Lauren Goggin agreed with her coach.
“We have the strongest team we’ve ever had” she said. “Last year was a very strong team, but we didn’t lose any major key players.”
As the team progresses towards the regional match, they are practicing every day and ensuring they stay healthy and avoiding any injuries.
“We’ll take it easier during the season, especially when we have a big match coming up. Off-season is when we do most of our heavy lifting,” said Goggin.
The upcoming match will feature a lot of big teams. “It has some of the best competition in the region,” said Miedema. “It probably has 14 out of the top 20 teams in the region—some of which are nationally ranked.”
The team is optimistic about the upcoming match, but some teams may become troublesome for them.
“Along with Wheaton, Carthage is a big powerhouse that we’ll be watching out for,” said Goggin.
Miedema on the other hand, isn’t as worried about the other teams. He’s just ready to see the rankings and line ups for next week’s matches.
Last year, co-captain Dana Goggin was partnered with now Augustana graduate Ali MacDonald in the double section of the tournament. In their bracket, Goggin and McDonald advanced to the semifinal round, where they fell to Washington University’s Grace Deering and Kaylan Griffith. Lauren was partnered with junior Mollie Magee and made it to into the second round, but were then defeated in the doubles.
Looking into the future, Miedema said the team will be using this match as a test to see how well they can do against some of the CCIW conference games that will be at the match.
“We will be working a lot on confidence these next few matches, as we will get to play some of the conference teams,” Miedema said.
After the match, the team will be focusing on their upcoming matches against CCIW rivals North Park University on Oct. 5 at North Park and Elmhurst College on Oct. 8 at home.