SE: It’s About Showing It - K-State Tennis Ready for First Home Matches of 2021
Feb 10, 2021 | Tennis, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
At the airport in Phoenix, Jordan Smith had a message for his K-State Tennis team.
"Listen, you guys do too much between finding a way to support each other and bringing it when the time is right, to worry about what our opponent is going to do," Smith said. "I told the girls, 'You're a big enough threat, our opponent should be worried about you.' Not the other way around."
K-State had just lost 4-1 to No. 24 Arizona State. They were heading from Tempe (Sunday temperature, 60 degrees) to Manhattan (Sunday temperature, 9 degrees).
Nobody would have blamed the Wildcats for plugging in their headphones or hunting for a Sbarro before their flight. Thing is, this team is just too talented.
"Once we get the mindset there, everything is going to flow so naturally," Smith said. "We have so many gifted young ladies, who can do more than tennis, but they're here for tennis and they're going to excel once they realize, don't sweat the little stuff."
K-State Tennis hasn't followed a straight path back to competition after COVID-19 wiped out most of their 2020 season. The Wildcats played a series of tournaments in the fall and winter, before returning to match play for the first time in more than ten months.
Unlike those round-robin competitions, where each member of K-State Tennis will play a few singles and doubles matches, the spring means the beginning of one-and-done weekends. The Wildcats will face another school, first to win four matches gets the victory.
A pair of road trips to play Arkansas and No. 24 Arizona State were a difficult way to get back into the match-play mindset, but Smith said his team is heading in the right direction.
"Physically, this is the best our group has ever looked," Smith said. "Tennis-wise, we're so talented, I actually get frustrated now when other coaches say how good our team is and how much depth we have when we come up short. I know how good our team is and how good we're going to be. Now it's about them showing it."
The first chance for K-State to do that on the court comes this weekend, when the 'Cats welcome Drake and Denver to Manhattan. Friday afternoon against Drake will be the first of nine home matches for the Wildcats this season, running through the end of April.
The weekend slate should provide a challenge for K-State's top double pairing of Maria Linares and Karine-Marion Job, who began the season at No. 46 in the ITA's National Doubles ranking.
Drake's Liza Petushkova was part of the nation's No. 71 ranked doubles pairing in 2020 and is undefeated this season alongside new partner Maria Tatarnikova.
On Saturday, K-State will face a Denver squad that returns every player from a 2020 team ranked No. 37 in the country, including the No. 36-ranked doubles pairing of Hada Chang and Taylor Melville.
When it comes to the players on the other side of the net, Smith said he doesn't want his team to worry too much strategy beforehand, especially when an opponent might throw that scouting report out the window.
"I might tell them, 'OK, this girl can't hit this one shot,' and then if she comes out on fire, they're looking at me like, 'What the heck?' and I'm just as surprised as they are," Smith said. "I tell the other coaches you can give me notes, but I'm going to use my eyeballs. What is that girl going to do on that day? That's when the coaching really comes into play."
This week, that has meant a return to the grind at Body First, the health center where the team will practice and compete this week due to snow in Manhattan. Classes and COVID precautions mean the Wildcats have to practice in smaller groups, rotating throughout the day.
Smith and the coaching staff are spending about six hours each day on the indoor courts. It also drains some of the energy the Wildcats can expect with their whole team together.
"We remind them, 'OK the whole team's not here, but you better support the heck out of the person who's practicing with you right now.' That's what we're focusing on," he said.
Looking ahead to Drake and Denver, Smith will also spend the week setting his team's lineup for match day. He compared his role to a baseball manager, except Smith is trying to pair the right pitcher for each batter as he goes through the seven tennis players on K-State who will compete.
One Wildcat to watch? Linares, who is coming off her first victory of the year over an ITA Top-150 opponent in Tempe, defeating No. 115 Sammi Hampton of Arizona State on Sunday.
Ultimately, Smith said he feels like every player on the Wildcats could hold down the No. 1 spot
The difference this weekend could be if K-State brings that mentality on match day.
"Drake and Denver, they're good and they're going to come out ready. We can come out of this 0-2 if we're not prepared to go out there and show that we're the better team," Smith said. "Or we can go out and say, 'Hey listen, we got out of Arkansas and Arizona State what we wanted to get out.' We came up short in terms of wins and losses, but the wins are going to come if we keep doing the right things."
At the airport in Phoenix, Jordan Smith had a message for his K-State Tennis team.
"Listen, you guys do too much between finding a way to support each other and bringing it when the time is right, to worry about what our opponent is going to do," Smith said. "I told the girls, 'You're a big enough threat, our opponent should be worried about you.' Not the other way around."
K-State had just lost 4-1 to No. 24 Arizona State. They were heading from Tempe (Sunday temperature, 60 degrees) to Manhattan (Sunday temperature, 9 degrees).
Nobody would have blamed the Wildcats for plugging in their headphones or hunting for a Sbarro before their flight. Thing is, this team is just too talented.
"Once we get the mindset there, everything is going to flow so naturally," Smith said. "We have so many gifted young ladies, who can do more than tennis, but they're here for tennis and they're going to excel once they realize, don't sweat the little stuff."
⛰☀️ 🄲🄰🅃🅂 🄾🄽 🅃🄾🄿 ☀️⛰
— K-State Tennis (@KStateTEN) February 6, 2021
.#KStateTEN pic.twitter.com/Yo86ly7qzi
K-State Tennis hasn't followed a straight path back to competition after COVID-19 wiped out most of their 2020 season. The Wildcats played a series of tournaments in the fall and winter, before returning to match play for the first time in more than ten months.
Unlike those round-robin competitions, where each member of K-State Tennis will play a few singles and doubles matches, the spring means the beginning of one-and-done weekends. The Wildcats will face another school, first to win four matches gets the victory.
A pair of road trips to play Arkansas and No. 24 Arizona State were a difficult way to get back into the match-play mindset, but Smith said his team is heading in the right direction.
"Physically, this is the best our group has ever looked," Smith said. "Tennis-wise, we're so talented, I actually get frustrated now when other coaches say how good our team is and how much depth we have when we come up short. I know how good our team is and how good we're going to be. Now it's about them showing it."
The first chance for K-State to do that on the court comes this weekend, when the 'Cats welcome Drake and Denver to Manhattan. Friday afternoon against Drake will be the first of nine home matches for the Wildcats this season, running through the end of April.
The weekend slate should provide a challenge for K-State's top double pairing of Maria Linares and Karine-Marion Job, who began the season at No. 46 in the ITA's National Doubles ranking.
Drake's Liza Petushkova was part of the nation's No. 71 ranked doubles pairing in 2020 and is undefeated this season alongside new partner Maria Tatarnikova.
On Saturday, K-State will face a Denver squad that returns every player from a 2020 team ranked No. 37 in the country, including the No. 36-ranked doubles pairing of Hada Chang and Taylor Melville.
When it comes to the players on the other side of the net, Smith said he doesn't want his team to worry too much strategy beforehand, especially when an opponent might throw that scouting report out the window.
"I might tell them, 'OK, this girl can't hit this one shot,' and then if she comes out on fire, they're looking at me like, 'What the heck?' and I'm just as surprised as they are," Smith said. "I tell the other coaches you can give me notes, but I'm going to use my eyeballs. What is that girl going to do on that day? That's when the coaching really comes into play."
This week, that has meant a return to the grind at Body First, the health center where the team will practice and compete this week due to snow in Manhattan. Classes and COVID precautions mean the Wildcats have to practice in smaller groups, rotating throughout the day.
Smith and the coaching staff are spending about six hours each day on the indoor courts. It also drains some of the energy the Wildcats can expect with their whole team together.
"We remind them, 'OK the whole team's not here, but you better support the heck out of the person who's practicing with you right now.' That's what we're focusing on," he said.
"We're all in this together. It's our family away from home for the players." #KStateTEN x Family pic.twitter.com/mYHeZ10lqJ
— K-State Tennis (@KStateTEN) February 7, 2021
Looking ahead to Drake and Denver, Smith will also spend the week setting his team's lineup for match day. He compared his role to a baseball manager, except Smith is trying to pair the right pitcher for each batter as he goes through the seven tennis players on K-State who will compete.
One Wildcat to watch? Linares, who is coming off her first victory of the year over an ITA Top-150 opponent in Tempe, defeating No. 115 Sammi Hampton of Arizona State on Sunday.
Ultimately, Smith said he feels like every player on the Wildcats could hold down the No. 1 spot
The difference this weekend could be if K-State brings that mentality on match day.
"Drake and Denver, they're good and they're going to come out ready. We can come out of this 0-2 if we're not prepared to go out there and show that we're the better team," Smith said. "Or we can go out and say, 'Hey listen, we got out of Arkansas and Arizona State what we wanted to get out.' We came up short in terms of wins and losses, but the wins are going to come if we keep doing the right things."
Players Mentioned
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