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Ripon Hopes to Improve Throughout Season
The Red Hawk women's tennis program has won just two matches the last two seasons, but things continue to be optimistic about this season's squad. Ripon returns eleven players from last year, while also welcoming six new faces to the team. With so many players returning, the Red Hawks hope that experience will pay off.
"One of our biggest strengths this year will be the depth that we've built at some of the lower singles positions," head tennis coach John Dinegan said. "We have some people that have played those spots for a few years now, so we'll have very strong veteran leadership at those positions."
Seniors Kara Wagner (West Bend, Wis./West) and Alicia
Kiszonas (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Southern Door) will be looked upon as the two leaders of the team. They are the co-captains, and are also the top two returners from last year's squad.
"Kara and Alicia will both give the team a huge lift this season," Dinegan said. "Alicia was our most consistent player last year. After coming here in three years ago with limited tennis experience, she has really worked hard to improve her game."
Both Wagner and Kiszonas, along with a few other players, will be vying for the top two singles positions, which are open due to the graduation of Jamie Lichon and Mara Evans.
"Losing those two players will leave a real void at the top of the lineup," Dinegan said. "It's going to be an open competition to replace them in the top two for singles play. We have some new faces coming in that have the potential to help us right away, as well as a few veterans, so it's possible that it could be a rotating situation all year at the top."
In addition to Wagner and Kiszonas, the Red Hawks will also welcome back juniors Arielle Denis (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) and Kate Dricken (West Bend, Wis./East), who are each expected to play a big role.
"Arielle is in her third year with the team and she will likely be our number three singles player," Dinegan said. "Kate has also been a solid player for us and I look for her to continue to improve her play and take that next step."
A big part of doubles play will include sophomores Kristine Jansen (Cottage Grove, Wis./Monona Grove) and Chelsey Foster
(Manitowoc, Wis./Roncali), who after a year of playing together at the collegiate level, know what to expect, and hope to use that experience to their advantage.
"Kristine and Chelsea played number three doubles last year and they will possibly move up to number two this year. Chelsea will also likely crack the starting lineup for singles," said Dinegan.
Last year, the Red Hawks hoped to make the jump to the middle of the pack in the Midwest Conference, but were setback by injuries. That means that this year's team is that much hungrier to compete at a higher level.
"We're hoping to finish higher than we did last year and end up in the middle of the pack of the conference, but that's going to depend on the girls and what they've done over the summer," Dinegan said. "The North Division has really been competitive the last couple years, and it will continue to be that way. We don't play any weak teams, but our veterans have been around long enough now that they'll step up to the challenge."
The Red Hawks had several matches that could have easily gone the other way last season. This year, they'll hope to get those bounces that they weren't able to get when it counted.
"We had a lot of matches that went down to the wire, but we weren't able to seize the moment," Dinegan said. "When a team struggles, they often play not to lose, rather than to win. I hope that when we're in those kinds of matches this year, we'll be able to come out on top and do what we need to do in order to get the victory."
The goal that seems to be stressed the most to the players on the team is to improve their play all season long, so that they become better players every day, both at practice, and in their matches.
"We need to continue to improve so that the players are playing at a better level at the end of the season, than they were at the beginning," Dinegan said. "I like our foundation and where we're going. We just need to start out with some small steps, win a few more matches, and ride some momentum to upset some teams this year."
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