Issue date: 9/3/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Brian Miller Sophomore Emily Hiebl returns with a forehand during practice. The team has a scrimmage against UW-Stout this Saturday.

UW-Eau Claire's men's and women's tennis teams kicked off practice for the upcoming seasons, conference, and perhaps another chance at the NCAA championship.

Men

The men's team completed last year's season by competing in the NCAA Div. III championship match against UW-Whitewater. Ultimately, they fell during the first round 5-0 with a 24-10 record.

The trip to the NCAA was the second trip for the men in program history, according to a team press release.

Head coach Tom Gillman said that the team is a veteran team on two accounts, with tennis experience and age experience.

"Our team has been around the block, so I think that's a payoff for us when it comes down the stretch," he said.

Junior Lars Olson described this season's men as a "deep" team with many good players who could play in the line up.

"Our ninth, 10th, 11th guy could be playing on the line up on a given day," he said. "I feel like we're still going to be really good this year."

The team's first tournament begins Friday, Oct. 2 in St. Peter, Minn. However, the season will not officially kick off until Feb., Gillman said.

While preparing for the season, Gillman said the first thing the Blugolds should do is make a decision regarding what kind of player they're going to be and how successful.

"Everything falls after that," he said. "The rest of it … they just have to get rid of some of their weaknesses and improve on some of their inconsistencies."

Women

The Lady 'Golds competed for the automatic bid to the NCAA in May last season against conference rivals UW-Oshkosh, UW-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater. While they won the second round against Oshkosh 8-1, the women lost 5-3 to the Eagles in the first round. The team placed third and did not receive the automatic bid, or an at-large bid later in the season.

The Blugolds kicked the season off with strong practices to prepare the team for play and conditioning, head coach Craig Monson said.

He added that winning conference was one of the team's goals for this season. Also, he said he would like to see the team continue to improve its consistency and the ability to close up matches.

The women's team features a mixture of ages in the roster, and like the men's team, Monson said the women are "deep" players.

"You should be able to plug in anybody anywhere; you shouldn't have any real weaknesses anywhere," he said.

For senior Gina Dahl, sportsmanship and etiquette on the court serve as one of a number of goals for the team.

"We want to be viewed as a classy team," she said, echoing her coach about trying for a conference win next spring and improving on how the team concludes a match.

The Lady 'Golds will be on their home courts 9:30 a.m. Saturday in McPhee, where they will host a doubles scrimmage for UW-Stout and St. Norbert College.

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