The St. Olaf Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams started practice for the fall season on Sept. 8, 2021. While their main season is in the spring the fall gives each team time to work on their skills. Tim Roback ’22, one of the four captains of the men’s team expressed how he sees the fall season.
“You need a lot of reps in tennis to be good and consistent. The fall is kind of our opportunity to get practice matches in and work out doubles pairing and stuff because it is pretty low stakes and it’s more for personal development than the spring is,” Roback said.
Along with Roback are three other captains, Tony Klagge ’22, Ethan Bruha ’22, and junior Henry Smith ’23. As COVID-19 restrictions have loosened, Roback is hoping to do some team bonding:
“We’re excited. I mean we had two years of low team unity because we couldn’t do much together, so honestly one of our main goals is just ramp up the amount that we see each other as teammates and what we do together.”
The women’s team is also looking forward to team bonding as they welcome four new players. The six returners include captains Katherine Ichinose ’22, Christiana Cholakis ’22, Teresa Fawcett ’22, and Lauren Mossman ’22. Allie Prokosch ’23, reflected on the changes to the team.
“I was kind of scared last year because we were losing most of the top of our line-up but then Coach [Nesbit] did some recruiting and so we have a really strong team. I didn’t expect us to be so strong in the first two weeks of the season,” Prokosch said.
Prokosch echoed Roback’s sentiments in regards to team bonding both off and on the courts.
“Everyone is playing with new doubles partners, so it takes a while to get used to who you’re playing with and what their strengths are and how you can support them best and be the player that they’re destined to be.”
