Warmer spring weather won’t be the only thing coming to Geneseo in April. For the first time in over a year-and-a-half, the Geneseo women’s tennis team will take the court on April 15 against SUNY Oswego.
Geneseo’s opening match at Rochester on April 7 will mark the team's first game since October 2019, falling to SUNY Oneonta in the SUNYAC semi-finals. The team’s spring 2020 schedule was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This season the SUNYAC is split into east and west divisions, with Geneseo being joined in the west division by SUNY Brockport, SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Oswego. Splitting up the teams into geographic divisions limits travel and potential overnight stays in an effort to increase safety.
In the SUNYAC women's preseason poll, Geneseo lands as the favorite to top the west division.
Any rematch against Oneonta will have to wait until a potential matchup in the SUNYAC playoffs. Geneseo’s last SUNYAC championship came in 2017 defeating Oneonta in the championship match.
Geneseo’s schedule will consist of six regular-season matches before traveling to Cortland for the SUNYAC playoffs. Geneseo will face each team in their division twice, with each team hosting three matches.
Along with the opening April 15 match against Oswego, Geneseo will also host matches April 26 and May 2 against Brockport and Fredonia, respectively. All matches begin at 3 p.m.
While tennis is a distanced sport, the return of the season was not a certainty. The warmer weather, vaccine progress and safety protocols allowed the season to be played.
With the nature of being in a pandemic, preparing for the upcoming season has been a challenge. Sophomore Elise Ellis had to get creative in trying to prepare this season because no gyms were open and no indoor tennis courts were available near her.
“It wasn’t safe to meet up with teammates of my same skill level to keep up with playing,” Ellis said. “While my family was more than willing to help, my 13-year-old sister and 52-year-old father are not at the same skill level that could help me improve my game.”
The uncertainty of the pandemic created doubt if there would even be a tennis season this spring. The start of the season brings a sense of normalcy that members of the team have been missing.
This was one of the biggest challenges in preparing for the upcoming season for junior Natalia Krol. Trying to self-motivate was difficult for her, not knowing when the next tennis match would be. The return of the season created a consistency and rhythm that has been missing for Krol.
“Most of my classes are online, so I really miss having a set schedule and structure to my day,” Krol said. “The season starting is bringing back a sort of normalcy that I think we've all been missing.”
The feeling of competition and the team being back together is one of the things that the team is most excited about this season.
Mentality is something that will be important this season for Ellis as she believes that tennis is a mental game, meaning that breaking down mental barriers will be key this season.
Geneseo tennis will look to compete for a SUNYAC championship once again this season, while trying to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.