SLU Tennis team better than ever
The women’s tennis team of Southeastern Louisiana University was affected by Hurricane Ida but is still proving its excellence in the 2021 fall season.
After being hit by the category four hurricane in August, the women’s tennis team at Southeastern competed in Monroe, Natchitoches and Destin, and they still have two more tournaments left from the fall season of 2021.
“I felt kind of scared because I had no clue what to expect,” said the team captain, Flory Bierma about the evacuation. “This was the first time, in all the four years since I’ve been here, that I had to evacuate. Everything went really fast.”
She explained that the practices did not stop despite the encumbered circumstances. Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., who they competed against in Monroe, allowed SLU to use their courts. Bierma also noted that it was hard to see the destruction of Hammond; however, it was a great team bonding opportunity since they have five freshmen this year.
SLU opened its season on Sept. 10 as the Warhawks of University of Louisiana Monroe hosted a tournament, where the Green Lions were invited too. The next competition was on Sept. 24–25 in Natchitoches — organized by the Lady Demons of Northwestern State University- where the Lions won the Orange Draw.
After this, they proved their technical and tactical developments in Destin, Fla. on Oct. 8–9. Dalina Dahlmans, the assistant tennis coach was very satisfied with their performance.
“I am pleased to see that the hard work we put in during practice times is paying off and we continue to get better the more we play,” she said.
Dahlmans also highlighted the areas of the progress they made. “The girls improved the most in strength and conditioning. As the semester takes its run, we continue to get better physically by being on a schedule,” she added.
Two more competitions are waiting for the tennis team in the fall season. They will have a home game on Oct. 29, and then they will fly to New York to compete against two teams in the “Big Apple.”
The spring season of 2022 will start on Jan. 29, as the Lions will travel to Orlando, Fla. for their first match in the Southland Conference. Until then, according to Dahlmans, there are still some areas in which they have to improve.
“We can improve in the mental area a little more as well as decision making when it comes to closing out the point. We need to present with more confidence in order to beat teams in the spring,” she said, adding, “In doubles I think we can get more aggressive, but we have been working on this already and we will continue to get better with that as well.”
Bierma noted that they could put more emphasis on supporting and cheering for each other. “Everything is still pretty new for our freshmen so I understand it can be a little bit overwhelming but it is important to cheer for one another as we are watching our teammates playing,” she said.
The women’s tennis team has one of the best average GPAs among the athletic teams at SLU, to which they are really proud of. Their motto is: “Strive for excellence in the classroom, community, and competition.”
