TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University women's tennis team will host the Community Colleges of Spokane and Willamette University this weekend at Sprinker Recreation Center.
The Lutes took down Highline Community College 6-3, last weekend in the team's home opener. PLU won the top three spots in singles play with
Sydney Cameron,
Hannah Jeffries, and
Bayley Gochanour defeating their opponents.
We talked with first-year
Sydney Cameron about being a part of this year's women's tennis team.
"I think my favorite part of being on the team is being able to grow lasting relationships with the sweetest girls and guys! As a first-year, I didn't know hardly anyone coming into college, but the tennis team was very welcoming and helped show me the ropes of college. As PLU is a Division III school, everyone on the tennis team is playing tennis not because of an athletic scholarship, but because they truly love and appreciate the game. I love how I get to compete with these girls every weekend and see how much that love for tennis hasn't changed since they first picked up the racquet. One of the main reasons I chose PLU tennis was because they are always trying to maintain the team aspect on and off the tennis court. We are always encouraging each other, helping out with each other's homework, eating dinners together, and giving each other rides to practices and matches!"
Cameron also reflected on what made last weekend successful, "What made last week successful was a combination of a strong week of practice, encouraging each other, and the will to win. We had an active week of practice last week and really got to work on some things that needed to be taken care of. Overall, we all improved and it was clear that we all knew that coming into our match against Highline. We had the right mentality coming into the match and that remained throughout the entire day."
The Lutes shift their focus to this weekend,
"We have our first two match weekend this week and a girls high school prep camp. Needless to say, we have a busier weekend then normal. What would make this weekend a success in my book would be applying what we learned from our stats from the Highline match, and to walk onto the tennis court this weekend with the same ferocity we did last Saturday. If we have another strong week of practice and a good mentality, then I predict a bit of success for Lutes tennis!"
Action begins on Friday at 5:00 p.m. against the Community College of Spokane. Willamette comes to Sprinker on Sunday and play will begin at 10:00 a.m.
