Women’s tennis coach reflects on season, looks forward

The ETSU women’s tennis team, alongside head coach Ricardo Rojas, finished the fall season just over a week ago after finding success at the Middle Tennessee State University tennis tournament.

Rojas, entering his third season at ETSU, seemed pleased with his team’s 14-4 singles play and 7-1 doubles take down at the MTSU tournament.

“We’ve had great work ethic all fall,” said Rojas. “The girls have been working really hard and it obviously showed in the tournament this past weekend.”

But the Bucs’ success has been all but recent. Last spring, the team experienced many triumphant moments as they battled throughout the Southern Conference.

“We’ve had a lot of momentum,” Rojas said. “The team has played well and we came back with the same hunger,” Rojas said. “We’re really looking forward to the spring and continue the momentum going into the spring.”

The Bucs recently managed to take down the 48th ranked team in the nation while tallying a six-game winning streak to go along with it.

Coach Rojas’ workload has recently seen an increase as the NCAA implements new COVID-19 protocols.

“We’re still learning everyday and we have had to make adjustments,” Rojas explained. “When you go and play in these tournaments, there are tons of protocols in place. As the season develops, we’ll continue to learn more and keep finding ways to be efficient.”

The team’s ability to shift focus has proven to limit their physical interactions with the virus — something that the team had little control over.

“There’s really no choice for us,” Rojas said. “All of it looks a bit different. There is no shaking of hands or borrowing other people’s racquets. This is a very serious thing, and we’re very aware of what is going on and what has been asked of us.”

Though the way of life has changed for the ETSU women’s tennis team, their vision remains clear.

There is little doubt that Rojas is confident with the young women who have already left their mark on the SoCon.

“We have a great group of girls who represent our university with class,” Rojas said. “I’m just very excited with what we have.”