By Michael Purtell
Senior day was special for the Plattsburgh State women’s tennis team, as the team recognized half of its roster in the celebration Thursday, Sept. 19. Spirits were high for the Cardinals, but the eight-player roster is facing a big question as it prepares for the departure of its seniors.
“If we can’t fill our spots, what’s going to happen?” sophomore Jacklin Mitchell said.
Four underclassmen are currently rostered and Taya Wood is committed to joining the team in the spring after a fall semester studying abroad. This leaves the team with five returning athletes for 2025.
The team needs six to compete. Each athlete would be asked to compete in both a doubles and singles game every match with only six players, similarly to this year.
The goal of the team is to recruit as many players as possible in order to keep a healthy stock of reserves as well, according to Mitchell.
This year’s tennis roster is boasting an impressive resume to show potential new Cardinals. The team’s last three games have all ended with a 7-0 victory. The team took a 6-1 win over conference rival Oneonta, a team Plattsburgh hasn’t beaten since 2012. Every milestone becomes more important as they can attract new players to the program.
“The way the women are playing, and with our record right now, it’s going to make recruiting a whole lot easier,” head coach Kelci Henn said.
First-year recruits tend to be from local programs, so having players familiar with local programs could be instrumental in recruitment efforts. Kristy Cantwell, Mitchell, Hallie Hurwitz and Sophia Gaschall — half the current roster — are all from Section VII high schools. Wood is also a local, and her being the most recent out of high school could prove to be instrumental in scouting prospective recruits.
Mitchell played that role last year, being a first-year student out of Plattsburgh at the time.
“I knew a lot of people who played and one thing that me and Kelci did last year was scout together,” Mitchell said. “Me and Kelci will probably have to go search for more locals.”
Tennis has also seen success in its recruiting through a social presence at Plattsburgh State. Several members of the team were brought on later in their college career through friendships with members of the team. Hurwitz was a pillar of this idea in past seasons, bringing several members of the program to the team and bolstering the team’s cohesion.
“Hallie was my number one coming into my first year,” Mitchell said. “I call her my older sister.”
Even though Hurwitz will be leaving the team after her senior season, she believes the team will continue to attract recruits from the team’s strong personalities.
“I can definitely see Ava Carey being a big part of recruiting this year,” Hurwitz said. “She’s personable and she cares a lot too.”
The roster size creates more stress than usual, but recruiting is treated with as much importance as it always is.
“I’m definitely a little stressed. It’s hard to replace the talent that we have,” Henn said. “But we’ve been able to find players after the last few graduating classes, so I’m confident that we’ll be able to do it again.”
