Women’s tennis performs well in their first invitational of the year – The Cauldron

By: Matt Poshedley

The Vikings attended their first tournament of the year which began on Friday, Sept. 22 and ended on Sunday, Sept. 24 at the University of Akron.

Head coach Brian Etzkin and assistant coach Frank Polito of the Vikings women’s tennis team had the girls ready to play.

There’s no lack of coaching experience on the staff as head coach Etzkin enters his 11th season and Assistant Coach Polito entering his 6th season.

“Polito brings a real professionalism to the team, an intensity and a real vision for working with the women’s team,”  Etzkin said.

The girls were able to win six out of their nine matches on Friday, which included winning all three doubles matches.

The winning didn’t stop there for the team as they continued to play well. They ended up winning five out of their nine matches on Saturday, led by junior Isabella Spindler at the No. 1 spot and senior Aleksandra Golawska at the No. 2 spot. Both players stayed undefeated in singles play.

Spindler and Aleksandra weren’t the only ones playing well. Freshman Gaby Schoenberg at the No. 4 spot and freshmen Anastasia Perin at the No. 5 spot both received their first collegiate singles victories on Saturday.

Continuing her dominating weekend, Spindler received the Akron Shootout Flight 1 Singles Title defeating Noelly Nsimba of Youngstown State University.

“I was proud of the way she competed,” coach Etzkin said.

Senior Jana Schober and Golawska were able to grab a doubles victory to end the weekend at the Akron Shootout.

“It’s great to get wins because it builds your confidence,” coach Etzkin said.

This was the first fall tournament  of the season and they have not had any conference matches. However, performing well is something that can be carried throughout the season.

“We saw and did well against teams we’ll play next year so it should be a confidence builder for the entire team,” Etzkin said.

The Vikings look to continue their success as they host their next tournament at the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion in Cleveland starting Friday, Oct. 6.

“It’s always fun to play at home,” Etzkin said.

The Vikings will play host to the University of Akron, West Virginia University and the University of Cincinnati at the Viking Invitational.

“I think our team will fight hard, never give up and compete no matter what the score is,” Etzkin said.

Just four days after the Viking invitational, the team will travel to the University of Michigan where they will participate in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional. The best players from the Midwest region will be facing off against each other in the tournament.

To wrap up fall tournament play, the Vikings will travel to Western Michigan University (WMU) to compete in the WMU Super Challenge.