SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University women's tennis team is set to resume its season Saturday afternoon with a road match against York College.
 
The tennis team, which posted a 1-2 record in the fall, hasn't been in hibernation, they have instead been hard at work practicing indoors for the past four and a half weeks to get ready for the resumption of play.
 
"We are really excited to go out there and get some match play in," said junior Rachel Gallagher. "We are ready to rely on our preparation and see what we can do."
 
"We've had a lot of really good energy," added head coach Dylan Curtis. "It can be challenging when we are inside and its dark and it's cold. It's different tennis when it's inside, but they have shown up every day and worked really hard – so that's been a huge positive."
 
Following their spring opener, Shippensburg will make its return to Robb Sports Complex Friday, March 6 for a noon match against Juniata. Soon after the team will embark on a trip to Orlando, Florida for a quartet of matches over Spring Break at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Campus March 16-19.
 
The spring portion of the schedule also features the start of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play on Tuesday, March 31 at Bloomsburg, as well as the PSAC Women's Tennis Championships April 28-May 2.
 
For SHIP tennis, the goal during the team's indoor practices has been to keep its momentum going from the fall and from last season – where its eight matches victories were its most in a single season in 24 years (15 in 2000-01).
 
They have attempted to do that through not only practice and repetition, but also plenty of positive reinforcement.
 
"During practices we are always very high energy," said senior Corinne Markovich. "If we miss a shot, we are always telling each other 'next ball, don't worry about it.' That translates into match play when we have our teammates supporting us from the sidelines. We want to bring each other up when we are down."
 
Coach Curtis credited the team's veterans, such as Markovich, for the team's current upward trend.
 
"We've brought in a handful of newcomers the past couple of years that have really helped with our depth and quality of play, but the players that we've started with – this is my third spring – they have just bought in completely and risen the level of expectations for this program. They have just worked so hard and that is really gratifying to see."

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