Colorado State University Athletics
CSU Rams preview: Tennis continues fall season in Boulder
9/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Weekly Release #2 (PDF) | Roster | Schedule
COLORADO INVITATIONAL
Colorado State will be back in action Thursday in Boulder for the four-team Colorado Invitational. The Rams will be going up against Colorado, Georgetown and New Mexico.
CSU will play two doubles sets Thursday, two singles sets Friday (best of three), a single and double Saturday and two doubles Sunday. Play will begin Thursday at 3:30 p.m., with action starting at 8:30 a.m. Friday-Sunday.
“We’re going to do some movement this weekend, whether it’s putting somebody in a different flight or changing doubles partners,” head coach Jon Messick said. “We’re also going to try and work Caroline Henderson into the doubles lineup, who’s been out with an injury.”
LOOKING BACK: AIR FORCE INVITATIONAL
CSU opened its 2015-16 season last weekend, competing in the eight-team Air Force Invitational. Overall, the Rams went 6-12 in singles play and 2-7 in doubles action, with six different players earning at least one victory.
“I liked how competitive we were,” Messick said. “I thought we did some things well, but we were inconsistent from one day to the next. That’s one thing we need to get better at.”
The tournament was the first for freshman Emily Kolbow, who went 2-1 in singles play.
“I was pleased with Kolbow,” Messick said. “That was a good start to her collegiate career. (Madison) Porter also played well, going 2-1.”
FALL FORMAT
During the Rams’ four fall tournaments, head coach Jon Messick said that he wants to try out several different lineups with the focus on determining the best format for the spring season.
“We’re just trying to evaluate our players so we know what our lineup is going to be in the spring,” Messick said prior to CSU’s tournament at Air Force last week. “In the fall tournaments, we will mix our players around; the lineup we put out for this weekend will probably be different than what we do in Boulder next weekend, especially with a couple new players. We want to see how everyone fits in, and it’s a way to get match results against players from different levels.”
BULK RETURNING
Jon Messick enters his 27th as head coach at Colorado State, and returns the bulk of last year’s production, including seven players overall and six of the Rams’ eight letterwinners in 2014-15. In total, CSU returns a lineup which won 62 singles matches last season, with four individuals winning at least 10.
Additionally, CSU welcomes two newcomers to its roster. Emily Kolbow is a four-star recruit from Arrowhead Union High School in Hartland, Wis. The four-time conference champion finished in the top three at the WIAA Division I Wisconsin state championships three times during her high-school career. Caroline Henderson comes to CSU with two years of eligibility after spending the beginning of her career at Kansas. She posted three singles victories and two doubles wins as a freshman, before earning two more singles victories during the fall of her sophomore season.
“We’re returning seven players, and four of them are seniors,” Messick said. “We do have experience, and with adding Caroline Henderson, she has good college experience, as well.”
BUILDING OFF OF A STRONG SEASON
CSU is coming off one of its best seasons in recent memory, winning eight matches in the spring, the most since 2011. The biggest win came in April over No. 54 New Mexico. It was the Rams’ first victory over a ranked team in at least 11 years, and afterward, Messick called it the biggest win of his lengthy coaching career.
HELPING HAND
For the first time in school history, CSU has a full-time assistant coach. Jarod Camerota brings more than a decade of top-level experience as a coach and recruiter, including last season at Northern Arizona. He also has spent time as an assistant at Northwestern, and as a head coach – either men’s, women’s or both – at Georgia State, Jacksonville and Mars Hill College.
GETTING IT DONE IN THE CLASSROOM
Five of CSU’s seven returnees were recognized during the offseason as Spring 2015 Academic All-Mountain West recipients – Maddie Buxton, Mollie Cooper, Aina Hernandez Soler, Laia Hernandez Soler and Madison Porter. Buxton and Porter were also named Scholar-Athletes by the MW and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
What’s more, the entire team was recognized by the ITA for holding a cumulative grade-point average above a 3.20. It marked the sixth year in a row that Messick’s team has been named an ITA All-Academic Team.
UP NEXT
CSU will continue its fall season next weekend with the Rams’ first home tournament, the sixth annual Colorado State Invitational. Action will begin Friday, Oct. 2, and continue through Sunday, Oct. 4, at the University Tennis Complex just south of campus. CSU will compete against Northern Colorado and Wyoming.