Southeast women’s tennis team brings its fall season to a close and the team reflects on the last eight weeks and begins ITA Regionals in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
For freshman Kseniya Zonova, the five-day event is the cherry on top of a successful fall season on the court.
“The tournaments have been so much fun for this team I think,” Zonova said. “We have mostly played a tournament every weekend and they’ve been really fun.”
Zonova opened the regional in the main singles draw against Kentucky's Akvile Parazinskaite.
Four members of the squad participated in the five-day event, including freshman Oleksandra Doroshenko, sophomore Anais Emelie, sophomore Isabella Krupa and Zonova. Through fall competitions, Doroshenko, Emelie, Krupa and Zonova have combined for 33 total victories with 16 singles wins and 17 in doubles play. Doroshenko leads the team in total, doubles and singles victories.
Looking ahead toward the regular season next semester, Zonova looks to get more comfortable on the court.
“My goals are to just get better,” Zonova said. “It’s an everyday goal. I just want to play better in the spring than I played during the fall.”
As a whole, the team’s goal aligns with Zonova’s.
During the annual Redhawk Invitational on Oct. 15, the team won all three doubles matches and only dropped one match. Emelie and Zonova defeated William Woods’ sophomores Alba Salinas and Felicia Cesar, winning the match, 6-2.
Southeast took on University of Tennessee-Martin to close out the tournament. They picked up one doubles victory and two singles wins.
Being a first-year collegiate athlete, Zonova has noticed a big change in the level of play.
“College tennis is even more than I expected. Professional sport is fun, but it’s always better to have your team by your side.”
