After taking a break from the fall season of tennis, the University of Hartford men’s and women’s tennis teams are gearing up to get back out on the court for the 2016 spring season.
During the fall season, the men’s team started off team play with a clean 1-0 record but dropped the last five matches to end the season 1-5. The women’s team was quite the opposite, finishing with a 4-2 record.
But as the spring season looms ahead with both teams’ first matches on Feb. 13 against Colgate University in Guilford, Connecticut, the players will be playing with a huge chip on their shoulders as this year will be the last season for the tennis program at Hartford.
In Oct. 2015, University of Hartford athletics director Anton Goff announced that the strings of the tennis program would be cut following the 2015–16 season, with women’s lacrosse taking its place. The announcement was a blindside to both the players and head coach Torr Terranova, but women’s team co-captain Skyler Schaar said it was just added motivation.
“I told the team right after it happened, ‘It’s not over yet. Let’s make these people in the athletics department regret cutting us,’” the sophomore said.
With the announcement, it was expected that some of the players would look to transfer schools, especially the underclassmen.
One of those players who had already decided to transfer mid-year was freshman Ariel Haber, who was Schaar’s doubles partner. The duo combined for a 5-3 record over the course of the fall season while playing out of the No. 1 doubles spot.
The Hawks will also be without sophomore Katherine Long, who earned 2014–15 All-Conference Second Team honors in singles play.
But the Hawks still return Schaar, who also earned All-Conference Second Team honors last year — albeit in doubles play. She posted a 5-3 singles record in the fall season playing out of the No. 1 spot.
The duo of sophomore Meredith Heitland and junior Emily Sneddon will be the only duo to return with experience playing together, as they went 3-2 during the fall. Heitland (5-3), Sneddon (4-4), senior Hannah Goldman (4-2) and sophomore Emily Lindsley (2-1) all return with singles experience.
“Our mentality is basically to put as much work in as we can, do as well as we can and just to be positive,” Schaar said. “I know this is a very negative thing that happened to us, but we’re going to come out on top.”
On the men’s side, the mentality is very much the same.
“Our coaches have very clear expectations. If you don’t want to be here, then don’t come,” junior Jairus Baker said. “We’re still going to operate business as usual, and it’s still going to be hard work, and we’re still going to compete, and we’re still going to fight out there on the court.”
The Hawks won’t play on their home court until April 2 against Wagner College. Their final match will be April 17 against Franklin Pierce University, here at home. The women’s team will also be playing Stonehill College later in that same day.