After their impressive performance at the Gopher Invitational earlier this month, the Eastern Michigan University women’s tennis team will go to Miami, Fla. to participate in the Florida International University Panther Tournament. The Eagles will compete against FIU, University of South Alabama and Barry University Sept. 28-30 at the tournament.
“It will be exciting to play some out of region opponents that can give us a good challenge,” EMU women’s tennis head coach Ryan Ray said.
Tennis matches require a lot of endurance, but the Eagles have been training hard for this weekend.
In addition to tennis fundamentals, they will be preparing to hit the road with good conditioning and weight training to prepare their bodies for the long hours typically played in a fall tournament.
The Eagles will not only need to prepare their bodies, but they will need to keep a winner’s mindset. The women ended the Gopher Invitational on a good note and will need to bring that to Florida.
“Right now they need to feel confident in their game,” Ray said.
EMU junior-college transfer Diana Davitaia took first place in singles at the Gopher Invitational with her teammate Klara Supejova taking second. This match was the best of the tournament for Supejova.
“It was long and equal fight for both, but she [Davitaia] played better in a few important moments so she deserved to win more,” Supejova said.
EMU doubles team of Supejova and Mariya Toncheva finished as runner-ups.
Although Supejova finds doubles matches very different compared to singles, she still ended that weekend well. Supejova hopes to improve even more for the weekend she has ahead of her.
Because of their impressive performance at the Gopher invitational, Ray expects a lot of success from not only Davitaia and Supejova, but from the entire team.
“I expect everyone to give their best effort in all matches and the results will show,” Ray said.
The girls have the skill to play well but there is one thing that may hold them back: Miami’s weather conditions will be very hot and humid. In order to keep their bodies going for the long grueling hours of the tournament, they will need to stay well hydrated.
When the Eagles finish in Miami, they will compete the following weekend Oct. 5-7 in the Air Force Invitational in Colorado.
