The LSU tennis teams found their rhythm toward the end of the fall season and finished on a high note.
In the final three tournaments of the fall season, the men’s and women’s teams each had two doubles teams make the finals with one of each winning the doubles title, and the Lady Tigers saw a player make the semifinals in their bracket four times.
The fall season’s been over for a month now and there’s still a month between now and the first tournament of the spring season.
But the players remain diligent during the two-month hiatus, both on the court and in the classroom. The break is a time for them to tweak and refine their game to succeed in the coming season, men’s coach Jeff Brown said.
“[The break between seasons] gives us time to get healthy,” Brown said. “We need them to hit the books, hit the weight room … get them a little stronger, and have them take care of their classes and get ready to come back.”
The importance of the fall season is not quite as prevalent in comparison to the spring season, but neither team disregards the fall season.
“You’re always representing LSU, and you’re always trying to find a way to get yourself as good as you possibly can be,” said LSU men’s assistant coach Danny Bryan.
Senior Lady Tiger Whitney Wolf finished her fall season strong, winning eight of her final 10 singles matches and taking home the doubles championship in her final fall tournament.
“I feel like my volleys have gotten a lot better, and also my net game,” Wolf said.
Senior Neal Skupski was in the thick of championship contention in nearly every tournament he competed in.
The Liverpool, England, native qualified for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships and the USTA Futures event.
“I really liked [Skupski’s] intensity,” Bryan said. “The guys really have to work hard to get the win, and he’s done that each day.”
Lady Tigers coach Tony Minnis said that he believes the fall is the time to fine-tune the players’ games and experiment to make the players more prepared for the spring.
The Tigers received commitments from two five-star recruits for the fall 2012 season in Harrison Kennedy from Georgia and Tam Trinh from Texas.
“These are the type of guys that you build championship teams around,” Brown said. “We are very excited about this