After splitting matches against Division 1 opponents last week, the Texas A&M University-Kingsville women’s tennis team is looking back at both outings as a learning experience.
The Javelinas defeated Prairie View A&M, 5-2, last Monday and fell to Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 7-0, two days later, prompting head coach Autumn Wollenzien to dive beyond wins and losses.
“Although they both were Division I teams, they were two different levels,” she said. “Both teams are quite successful in their respective conferences. PVAMU taught us a lot about the improvements we need to make in doubles. TAMUCC historically has been the strongest team in the Southland Conference. Both teams bring out a competitiveness that does not require us to place pressure on our side of the court. They allow us to play freely at this point in the season, which is always a great thing. Because at the end of the match you can truly assess where the changes you made in the off-season are working and not working.”
Stephanie Baerman, who defeated Anette Lira from Prairie View (6-2) and fell to Maria Maldonado (4-6), echoed the sentiment.
The San Antonio native embraces the ability to play free during these pre-seasons matches and said it would pay dividends down the line.
“We go into those matches, especially D1 matches, as if we have nothing to lose,” she said. “I think that’s when we play our best tennis because we are out there playing free; we don’t have anything on our minds – pressure wise. I think it helps us with our confidence and mentally because we go out there and we can see like how we are able to play and when we get to our D2 opponents I can say that we are not as scared, or have that much pressure because we know what we are capable of and how we can play and we trust each other as a team.”
For others on the team, the matches feel different and, in some cases, much tougher.
“Both of those matches, so it shows that these seasons are going to be competitive,” Valerie Ruiz said. “You definitely feel the difference in the pace of the ball and the movement. Whenever you play against better teams like that, it raises your level, so it makes you want to practice harder and gives you more confidence for D2 matches.”
The Javelinas are not done with their tour against Division 1 opponents, as they prepare for an upcoming match against UTRGV on Feb 22.
By that time, 16 days would have passed since their last match, leaving plenty of time to not only work on match preparation, but working themselves into match shape with a tough road schedule, featuring matches at MSU Denver on Feb. 29 and CSU-Pueblo a day later.
“Our coach talked to us about staying really focused and improving our conditioning,” Ruiz said. “We are also preparing for Colorado matches and altitude is going to be different, so we have to be more prepared for that.”
The match up against UTRGV might be a favorable one as the Vaqueros are 0-6 on the season.
Wollenzien is eager to get back out on the court and see how her team has progressed.
“We are looking forward to that match,” she said. “It will be another good one, especially for us. Again, we can play freely, and we know with the information that we’ve gathered from these last two matches, we will be better equipped to go in with a lot of confidence.”