By Michael Purtell
The Plattsburgh State Cardinals women’s tennis team made a triumphant return to the SUNYAC tournament last season for the first time since 2017.
Now with a new coach and five new players, the team is aiming higher.
Legendary Plattsburgh State soccer coach Chris Waterbury makes his return as the university’s tennis head coach, and he’s eager to pick up where Kelci Henn left off.
“I’m excited to be back,” Waterbury said. “My greatest compliments go to the team. I can be a little too challenging at times, but they never back off, they come back and accept the challenge.”
Headlining the returning athletes from the tournament appearance is senior Kristy Cantwell, who was named to SUNYAC First team doubles last season. Juniors Ava Carey and Jacklin Mitchell also return after strong sophomore campaigns.
Also returning from last year’s campaign are senior Marena Tubo, junior Julia Gyebi and sophomore Taya Wood.
New arrivals include local first years Abigail Macdougal and Ava Perry, Vermonter Mirabelle Nonni, and New Yorkers Bianca Buel and Carmen Marino.
With a new coach and more newcomers than returners, the team has a lot of chemistry to figure out, Waterbury said. Luckily, whether it’s as a team or as individual athletes, the team is making great strides in improving.
“Our goal is to train to become the best version of who you currently are and figure out how to get the most out of you as an individual,” Waterbury said. “Then we go a step further.”
This training style is uniquely suited to the challenges of tennis, Waterbury said. Especially singles, where you are isolated on your side of the court.
“As weird as it sounds, there is an excellent chance that the person you’re playing against you have never seen before. You don’t even warm up with them,” Waterbury said. “Then during the game you have to make adjustments and assessments. You may have to change your whole tactics within a match, and that is extraordinarily difficult to train.”
Part of nurturing the experience that builds the skills of adapting mid-match is learning to forget mistakes as they happen, Waterbury said. By focusing on the individual athletes’ mindsets and skillsets, the team hopes to build up their versatility throughout the season.
“It’s all about asking ‘Are we better than we were yesterday?’ and then hitting our peak at the right time,” Waterbury said.
Waterbury declined to comment on who would make up the Cardinals’ lineups in conference play, but said that the team has “taken the decision out of his hands” by competing hard and establishing a clear general order through their play.
The Cardinals begin SUNYAC play tomorrow against the SUNY New Paltz Hawks at 1 p.m. The Hawks defeated the Cardinals in the SUNYAC tournament 0-4 and went on to win the conference title and the first round of the NCAA DIII championship.
The matchup marks the start of five straight SUNYAC games — the results of which will decide if the team will qualify for the SUNYAC tournament in the spring.
“Literally one match can be the difference in qualifying or being eliminated,” Waterbury said. “So they are all equally important to us.”
