Mount Mary University tennis is about to begin. The Blue Angels have been building their tennis program for the last few seasons, and the team is quite hopeful that success will continue.
Last season, the Blue Angels matched their regular season high of six wins. However, two very close matches were cancelled mid-action and never rescheduled. That bittersweet success left a very talented and well coached team hungry.
One of the biggest moments last season came early. During the very first dual match of the season, when the MMU number one and number two singles took down the opposition back-to-back. It marked the first time in over eight seasons that MMU won the number one singles match, and the first time in the NCAA era that the Blue Angels had won the top two singles spots in the same dual match.
So what will be different?
The Blue Angels have had some turnover with their roster, but the most notable change from last year will be the new head coach Callie Schroeder.
Before this season, Coach Tom Troast was at the helm for four seasons. After righting the ship in the first season, Troast went on to tally two of the most successful seasons in MMU history. As tough as it might be for Blue Angels fans to move on from the Troast regime, Schroeder steps into the position with a lot of playing experience.
The four time letter winner from St. Norbert College also knows what it takes to be the kind of student-athlete the tennis program has come to expect. Schroeder was named to the Midwest Conference All-Academic team four straight seasons, something a team like the Blue Angels tennis program can respect as they took home the coveted Mount Mary Team GPA Award in 2014-15.
While the Blue Angels lost a few key pieces, they are still expected to be successful. “We did lose quite a few seniors and players who transferred out,” head tennis coach Callie Schroeder talking about what some changes the players will have to work with this year. “…Just learning to play with new doubles’ partners. A lot of the people returning had played with players that have left the program. So the biggest change will just be playing with new people and incorporating different types of plays in style.”
Full Coach Schroeder Interview
Along with the four returners, Brooke Slamka (Sr./Racine, Wis.), Sydney Dahlstrom (Sr./Marquette, Mich.), Krista Olson (Sr./Appleton, Wis.) and Ana Mercado (Jr./Grafton, Wis.), the Blue Angels have brought in Amy Gossett a freshman out of Franklin, Wis. and Marissa Rechlicz (So./West Allis, Wis.) a returner for soccer, basketball and softball, but will be the first collegiate tennis season for the sophomore. However, Rechlicz had success in high school, in her senior year she contended in the number one singles flights in the WIAA Sub-sectionals for Nathan Hale.
With a new team, and a brand new entrance to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference as affiliate members, Blue Angels tennis looks to continue to grow. The NACC consists of 10 other NCAA DIII schools throughout Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Early on the Blue Angels have been picked to finished ninth in the NACC preseason coaches’ poll. In a near tie with the eighth seed Concordia Univ. Chicago, it seems the Blue Angels are already receiving some respect before entry into the league.
A very tough task is ahead for this year’s Blue Angels tennis squad, they are following two very successful seasons and are now facing their first year in a conference, with an ultimate opportunity to play for a national championship. The beginning of a new chapter in Blue Angels athletics is at hand, and it begins this Saturday Sept. 28th as the Blue Angels will have a doubleheader against host Lake Forest College, then against Illinois Wesleyan University all beginning at 9:00 am.
