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After a two-week break, the Drake women’s tennis team is back in action this weekend at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Individuals Tournament.
The girls were last in action with an impressive showing at the Northern Iowa Fall Invitational the weekend of Sept. 23-25. Freshman Nell Boyd was one of the reasons the team was so successful in Cedar Falls, and she is looking forward to this weekend’s action.
“My goals are to try to win both my singles and our doubles bracket,” Boyd said. “(Senior) Amanda Aragon and I have been playing really well together.”
The MVC tournament will be back in Cedar Falls, and action will take place all day Friday through Sunday.
“I’m trying to prepare by getting as much sleep as I can, eating healthy and working hard at practice,” Boyd said.
Boyd feels that this team can be successful this weekend, building off of its success from two weekends ago.
“My expectations for this weekend are to do just as good if not better than two weekends ago,” she said. “We all stepped up and did an amazing job last weekend.”
The State Farm MVC Individuals Tournament is the final tournament of the fall season, and the team will have another break until late January.
“Everyone seems focused and excited for this final tournament,” senior Gabby Demos said. “We hit (last) Saturday and Sunday and will continue until we leave on Thursday.”
As a senior, Demos may have a bit more motivation about this tournament than the freshman Boyd.
“This tournament went horribly for me last year,” Demos said. “I didn’t win a match. My goal this year is to at least get to the finals.”
During its last few days of practice, the girls are staying calm and honing in on their specific jobs for this weekend before they can have the fun of the tournament.
“Coach (Paul Thomson) is just working with us on our particular weaknesses, and we’re playing a lot of doubles which we needed to do,” Demos said. “I expect everyone to do well this weekend, and we could win the whole thing at a few spots. Team chemistry is great, and I’m just really excited to be going on another road trip with the team.”
