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The Seton Hall Women’s Tennis team will be coming off a three-month intermission to take on Army and Binghamton this weekend, and the Pirates have used the fall semester to prepare for the upcoming road ahead.
The fall semester play only involved one match, a loss to Fordham, but was mainly composed of doubles play and several tournaments.
Spring semester play, according to Coach Greg Wyzykowski, is much more head-to-head based, with individual matches and team scoring being used.
“Our spring schedule has 19 matches,” Wyzykowski said. “We were able to use tournament play in the fall to test out freshman in division one collegiate play, and to get our strong players stronger. We have one of our deepest teams in years; there’s a strong possibility they’ll do well.”
Wyzykowski mentioned the depth of this team, which includes three seniors, three sophomores, and two new freshman.
He noted their strong play earlier on in the season in tournament play.
“They did really well up at the Army tournament,” he said. “Both our seniors and our freshman played really in that one. I was impressed that, in the tournament where we play UConn, Thandy (Kangwa), one of our freshman, beat their number one seed easily. From there I knew the potential of our team this year.”
The injury bug seemed to bite Seton Hall hard during the first half of the year, as Wyzykowksi noted that players were injured at the time, and some still are.
He is “looking forward” to seeing his players rebound from their injuries in the second half of the season.
“I saw a lot of positive results early on, but the injuries have killed us at times,” he said.
“The dedication and the skill level are there for our players, but it’s just a matter of getting healthy.”
Both Wyzykowksi and senior Isabell Klingert believe that the team will look past the injuries of the fall season and persevere in the second half of the season.
“We need to take a more personal responsibility towards the second half,” he said.
“We are lot better of a team as a whole, however I know a strong mental effort alone will take our team very far.
“We have way more potential than last year and the program
is stronger,” Klingert added. “With competing in the spring, I definitely think the season looks promising, and I’m excited for the spring season.”
Transitioning into the spring season, Seton Hall will travel up to New York for a packed weekend, where they will take on Army and nearby Binghamton.
These will be the Pirates’ first matches of the spring, as their match against NJIT this past Sunday was snowed out.
Klingert notes the toughness of Army, while Wyzykowksi mentions health concerns, especially for Binghamton.
“It’s going to be a good way to see how we’ve prepared from earlier on this season,” she said.
“It’s a little hard because some of us are still injured, but we’re going to do the best we can, and I hope we can get two wins out of there.”
“Army is always tough but Bing- hamton has been better the past few years”, Wyzykowski said.
“The trainers have help us get healthy and we need to make sure we’re ready,” he said.
“I need to know who I’ll have on my roster, and better yet, if I’ll have a full roster.”
The team will look to overcome injuries and build on a strong fall season this Saturday against Army when it travels to West Point, NY at 12 p.m.
They will stay in West Point when they take on Binghamton for their second match on Sunday at 10 a.m.
Matthew Lamb can be reached at matthew.lamb@shu.edu.
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