After competing in three invites, the women’s tennis team will wrap up their fall season with the ITA Midwest Regional Championships in Champaign, Ill. starting Thursday.
The Spartans are coming off a bye week, which gives them 10 days to prepare for Regionals.
“It was good for them to get some rest, especially mentally. We’ve had a really good week of practice and so I think they’re fired up,” associate head coach Tyler Faulkner said. “They know what’s on the line — it’s their last event to showcase what they’ve done.”
There are 48 women from the Midwest that qualify for regionals, four of which come from MSU. Sophomore Athena Trouillot (6-5), senior Catherine Parenteau (2-1), freshman Lexi Baylis (9-2) and junior Emily Meyers (6-3) will compete Thursday and Friday to qualify for the main draw, and the chance to head to nationals. Freshman Colleen O’Brien (2-4) will be an alternate for the Spartans.
“We feel good about the girls that are going,” Faulkner said.
Forty athletes are selected to start in the main draw, including MSU sophomore Erin Faulkner (7-4) and freshman Aslina Chua (9-2). These two will not compete until Saturday for round one singles. The other four girls that qualified need to advance from matches Thursday and Friday to play in the main draw among Faulkner and Chua.
“It’s such an honor being able to wear green and white,” Baylis said. “I’ve been a Spartan fan my whole life, so being able to represent MSU at such a big tournament is so awesome.”
For doubles, 48 pairs qualify to compete for the main draw. Faulkner/Trouillot (2-3), Meyers/Baylis (5-1), and Parenteau/Chua, who have yet to compete together, qualified for doubles.
“I think one the biggest things we’ve been working on is doubles, being aggressive in doubles and putting pressure on our opponents,” Tyler Faulkner said. “The girls have exceeded well with that.”
According to Meyers, the Spartans will need to make sure they are competing smart when in Illinois.
“We’ve been working a lot on the mental aspect of the game and I think that if we execute that well, we will be able to have good results,” Meyers said.
This will be their first taste at intense competition for the season, competing against various Big Ten schools, including Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern and Wisconsin.
“In terms of competition and difficulty, this will probably be the toughest event that we’ve played yet,” Tyler Faulkner said.
Regionals will run through Tuesday, Oct. 21, and those competing for MSU will play until they are eliminated.
“It definitely makes all of the hard work we’ve put in so far this fall pay off,” Meyers said. “It’s sort of like the end of the road, what we are trying to achieve, so once you achieve it, it feels good.”
