By The Keystone Newspaper Team reflects on their Fall 2024 performance
By Emma Osborne
The KU women’s tennis team ended their fall season with two wins and three losses, but are quite happy with how they performed individually.
KU women’s tennis said they aim to come back in the spring and make the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), but “the ultimate goal would be to try to have a 500 or better record…more wins than losses,” Coach Pete Smith said.
He also pointed out one advantage that KU has over the other universities, saying, “Nobody thinks Kutztown’s women’s tennis is going to be anything to worry about, and we can probably sneak up on some teams that way.”
Women’s tennis team players Bieke Roovers, Ryleigh Bohning, and Emma Semery offered insight into how they felt about the fall season.
“I won a lot more matches than last year and I think also mentally, I was way stronger than last year,” Roovers said.
Coach Smith highlighted Roovers as an amazing player this season, going 5-0. “And last year, [Bieke] was the PSAC Freshman of the Year,” Coach Smith said.
The most memorable match for Roovers this fall was against Chestnut Hill, whose team was credited as a hard team to beat. Roovers beat her opponent in all three singles matches.
Coach Smith points to another player who got his attention, Isabella Nadai. As a freshman, she was weary about how she would perform against other Division II schools.
He said that she would frequently be upset about how she did in practice, but during the matches, she went 5 and 0. She didn’t lose any of her singles matches.
Ryleigh Bohning pointed to the last match of the fall as her best game. “I won both doubles and singles, so that was really memorable.”
Despite not winning all of her matches, Bohning and the rest of the team have marked a definite improvement in her skills since last year.
Bohning shared this piece of advice for her team and any incoming players, saying, “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Keep just pushing forward and practice hard and you’ll win.”
The players hope to keep this in mind as they keep practicing in preparation for the second half of the year.
Additionally, Emma Semery won three singles and three doubles matches this fall.
KU’s match in the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships left Semery proud. Although KU had to forfeit due to their lack of players this season, Semery thought the matches she participated in were very good and it gave her confidence that she could go against good teams and put up a good fight at the very least.
Coach Smith said he is very proud of the KU women’s tennis team. As the new coach, he knew he would have to put in work to learn about each girl’s strengths and weaknesses, but he feels that they have done a great job so far. He said he is very hopeful for the spring season and knows that KU is capable of doing great things.
“Sometimes it takes a while for kids to figure it out, but I think they’re starting to believe they could be good,” Coach Smith said.