Pacific women’s tennis serves up their year
For Pacific’s top doubles team of Chloe Takahashi and Stella Nishimura, this year’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association tournament came with new expectations—after all, they were the number one seeds in the draw. Talk about added pressure.
“We’re gonna play like we deserve to be here.” said Nishimura.
And that they did, getting all the way to the finals before just falling short to Whitman.
Since tennis is a spring sport, there is still a long way to go before the actual season starts. Despite that, Takahashi and Nishimura both took valuable lessons from this early season experience. “We tend to start slow,” said Nishimura, which can be a death sentence in the fast-paced, one set format that doubles matches are played during the season. In ITAs the pair had some more leeway since they played pro-sets, which go to eight games, but they’ll need to figure out a way to begin matches better during the season. “We have to jump the gun really quickly, play loose, and trust our shots,” said Nishimura.
When I interviewed Pacific’s singles player Tiara Yeung last season, there was one common denominator that really defined the season in her eyes, and probably in the team’s eyes as well: Injuries. For this season, staying healthy is a huge point of emphasis for the Boxers. “First and foremost we need to take care of our bodies,” said Takahashi. This need to stay on court is very important this season for the Boxers, especially for the starters. Since Pacific only has nine players; there aren’t many replacements who can step in if someone goes down with an injury. On top of this, many of Pacific’s players already have preexisting injuries that they had to play through last season, injuries which knocked some of them out for extended periods of time last season. All of this put together is why staying is the Boxers’ top priority this year.
But there are also many positives to having a smaller sized team. “You really get to know everybody,” said Takahashi. “It’s easier to plan things,” added Nishimura.
In terms of goals, the obvious one besides staying healthy is making it to the postseason. The Boxers missed out on it last year, so that fuel will be lit under them for this season. More than that though, there’s a definite emphasis on enjoyment that exudes from the team. For Nishimura, who’s graduating this year, forming strong bonds with the new players and having fun on court are some of the most important things that she’s focusing on this year.
Takahashi and Nishimura also highlighted the new players who joined the team this year. They got three new freshmen who are joining the team this season. Victoria Haraden, Trina Dinh, and Jillian Hom. They praised Haraden’s energy and support, Dinh’s wholesomeness and willingness to learn, and Hom’s upbeat personality. “It’s great that we have all these new assets,” said Takahashi. Nishimura describes the team like a melting pot. “All different backgrounds, but we come together for a common interest, and that’s tennis.”
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