University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, January 29
Minneapolis, Minn.
3:00 p.m.
at
Minnesota
Six returners and three newcomers will lead Tommie Women's Tennis in 2022
Women's Tennis opens D-I era against Gophers, starts busy stretch
1/28/2022 10:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
St. Thomas Women's Tennis will start its Division I era of team competition this weekend close to home. The Tommies open the 2022 portion of their schedule Saturday Jan. 29 with a match against the Minnesota Gophers, set for 3 p.m. at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center.
It's the first of eight non-conference matches for St. Thomas before it starts Summit League play March 5 at Denver. The Toms have seven conference matches scheduled in March and April, and also will compete this season in seven states -- Illinois, Iowa, Alabama, Colorado, Nebraska and Missouri, as well as a spring-break trip to Florida.
Under first-year head coach Lois Arterberry, the Purple got a taste of D-I competition last fall as they played several individual and doubles matches in a pair of tournaments in Omaha and Iowa City.
The Purple have six returning players from a squad that swept the conference regular-season and playoff titles in spring 2021 in the program's final season competing in Division III. That team won 14 consecutive matches before falling in round two of the Division III national playoffs, good for a ninth-place national finish. Then freshmen Nicole Snezhko and Janah ElNemr were named D-III All-Americas in doubles.
Other returners are seniors Olivia Paradise and Brooke Hapuku, and sophomores Monterey Knewtson and Ashley Hatch. Three freshmen joining the team are sisters Madeline and Abigail Bremel, and Regina Talavera
Arterberry brings a strong resume as a player along with eight years of coaching experience at several Division I universities. She most recently worked with University of Missouri Women's Tennis, one season as a volunteer aide and the second as an assistant coach. She joined the Tigers' program after one season as a volunteer assistant for North Carolina-Asheville women's tennis (2018-19). She also has three seasons of head coaching experience. In fall 2017, she guided the women's team at Eastern Illinois. She previously served as head coach of the Jackson State (Miss.) men's and women's programs for two seasons (2015-17).
The coach said her players will continue to grow and gain a comfort level as they gain more experience and understand the level of competition they will face as Division I competitors.
"We started preseason practice January 18, and our players have done quite a few things they haven't done before, like two-a-day practices, and hitting the weight room really hard," Arterberry said. "The first week was a bit of a challenge, but we saw a lot of improvement from week one to week two. I'm very happy where they are right now, I expect them to go out and perform at the highest level they can.
"The biggest thing we need to improve is their confidence level, and getting them to understand that they can compete at this level. The girls on the other side of the net are not any different than them, and we're they're putting in the same amount of work as they are. I have them training at a very high level, but I don't treat them any differently because they were Division III athletes, I'm all in with them. They have been buying in, and I think it's just a matter of believing. And I think that's going to come with time and the more they compete at that high level.
"The mental side of tennis is more demanding than the actual physical side, and they have to understand the game. I've been teaching them quite a lot of a bit of strategy, using different drills that we have been working on. Once we get a good solid understanding of those things, we should compete even better than they were competing before. We hope to prepare them so they're not just going into it blindly.
"This year we are only playing one Power 5 school, that's the best way to start, just not throwing them into the fire, right now working on building the confidence up. We have a tough one (against Minnesota) right out of the gate, but as we get into the season we will play a lot of teams that I think are comparable to us. When we step out there, we're probably going to shock a few people. The girls have an understanding that they are the underdogs, so that excites me even more."
It's the first of eight non-conference matches for St. Thomas before it starts Summit League play March 5 at Denver. The Toms have seven conference matches scheduled in March and April, and also will compete this season in seven states -- Illinois, Iowa, Alabama, Colorado, Nebraska and Missouri, as well as a spring-break trip to Florida.
Under first-year head coach Lois Arterberry, the Purple got a taste of D-I competition last fall as they played several individual and doubles matches in a pair of tournaments in Omaha and Iowa City.
The Purple have six returning players from a squad that swept the conference regular-season and playoff titles in spring 2021 in the program's final season competing in Division III. That team won 14 consecutive matches before falling in round two of the Division III national playoffs, good for a ninth-place national finish. Then freshmen Nicole Snezhko and Janah ElNemr were named D-III All-Americas in doubles.
Other returners are seniors Olivia Paradise and Brooke Hapuku, and sophomores Monterey Knewtson and Ashley Hatch. Three freshmen joining the team are sisters Madeline and Abigail Bremel, and Regina Talavera
Arterberry brings a strong resume as a player along with eight years of coaching experience at several Division I universities. She most recently worked with University of Missouri Women's Tennis, one season as a volunteer aide and the second as an assistant coach. She joined the Tigers' program after one season as a volunteer assistant for North Carolina-Asheville women's tennis (2018-19). She also has three seasons of head coaching experience. In fall 2017, she guided the women's team at Eastern Illinois. She previously served as head coach of the Jackson State (Miss.) men's and women's programs for two seasons (2015-17).
The coach said her players will continue to grow and gain a comfort level as they gain more experience and understand the level of competition they will face as Division I competitors.
"We started preseason practice January 18, and our players have done quite a few things they haven't done before, like two-a-day practices, and hitting the weight room really hard," Arterberry said. "The first week was a bit of a challenge, but we saw a lot of improvement from week one to week two. I'm very happy where they are right now, I expect them to go out and perform at the highest level they can.
"The biggest thing we need to improve is their confidence level, and getting them to understand that they can compete at this level. The girls on the other side of the net are not any different than them, and we're they're putting in the same amount of work as they are. I have them training at a very high level, but I don't treat them any differently because they were Division III athletes, I'm all in with them. They have been buying in, and I think it's just a matter of believing. And I think that's going to come with time and the more they compete at that high level.
"The mental side of tennis is more demanding than the actual physical side, and they have to understand the game. I've been teaching them quite a lot of a bit of strategy, using different drills that we have been working on. Once we get a good solid understanding of those things, we should compete even better than they were competing before. We hope to prepare them so they're not just going into it blindly.
"This year we are only playing one Power 5 school, that's the best way to start, just not throwing them into the fire, right now working on building the confidence up. We have a tough one (against Minnesota) right out of the gate, but as we get into the season we will play a lot of teams that I think are comparable to us. When we step out there, we're probably going to shock a few people. The girls have an understanding that they are the underdogs, so that excites me even more."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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