Stephenson Has Huskies Hungry, Confident Into Home Opener

THIS WEEK IN HUSKY WOMEN’S TENNIS

Washington hosts Portland, 1 pm | Live Stats and Video

Sunday, Jan. 29

Washington hosts Portland State, 12 pm | Live Stats and Video

This Saturday and Sunday the Husky women’s tennis team plays its first two home matches of the season coming off a successful 2-0 trip to Hawaii to start the 2023 dual season. Washington has a long-term goal of earning a second straight NCAA Championship appearance, but first things first, taking on the Portland Pilots and Portland State Vikings this weekend. And in just a couple short weeks, the Huskies will be the host for the 2023 ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which will bring in fifteen of the top teams in the nation to battle for the indoor national title. The Dawgs will look to be in top form for that big opportunity to compete and beat some highly-ranked opponents.

Head Coach Robin Stephenson discussed the team’s first week of play, the upcoming ITA National Team Indoors, and the new-look lineup that featured four new Huskies in the opening week, but was still loaded with experience.

Coach Stephenson…

On what the takeaways were from the opening week and victories in Hawaii: This is really a unique group and we’ve known that from the first day in the fall. They get along really, really well. There’s a good energy and connection between all of them. A lot of leadership from different people. A really supportive group. They’ve got a lot of belief and trust in each other. Hawaii was great because it was the start to our season on court but it’s a really good team bonding trip and we took a lot away from it, and the experiences we had together bonded everyone even closer.

The first match I was impressed we came out with a little bit of nerves in the doubles and were able to pull through that. Erika (Matsuda) and Sarah-Maude (Fortin) were the last two on and Erika as a freshman her first time in that situation rose to the occasion which was cool to see. In singles you could tell the experience we have in our lineup, the girls came out focused, and the level of intensity was really cool to see. It was a good statement from them. Then Hawaii is always a tough team, and we handled the heat well and competed at a high level. So it was a great start to the season.

 

On having four new players in the starting lineup to begin the season, yet still having a very experienced lineup: In year’s past we’ve had more of a…