Women's Tennis January 15, 2019 Athletic Communications

Hatters Open Season Wednesday Against Morgan State

When Stetson women's tennis opens the 2019 season on Wednesday against Morgan State, third-year head coach Travis Sandlant and his squad will be aiming to make the new season last at least one match longer than the previous one.

The Hatters made a surprising run through the ASUN Tournament last April, reaching the championship match before falling to North Florida. Finishing with a 13-9 overall record and a runner-up finish in the ASUN was a pretty good achievement for a team comprised almost exclusively of freshmen and sophomores

Stetson followed up a near-championship spring with a strong fall season, and all of that has given Sandlant and the Hatters plenty of optimism for the new season.

"We had a pretty good fall with a tough schedule," he said. "We played against a lot of big teams and I think that's what we needed to improve and keep moving forward."

Sandlant and the Hatters will lean on veterans Danel Ashirova, Vicky Geuricnkx, Brooke Milner, Danielle Peele, Lucie Renault and Alexe Viaud to do most of the heavy lifting this season. Of that group, only Viaud is a senior.

"The returnees seem to all be headed in the same direction," Sandlant said. "Danel and Lucie had a good regional tournament. We picked up come good wins against big schools so it was good to see that we can compete at that level."

While the season has yet to begin, Sandlant says he has a pretty good idea of what his lineup will look like. But he's prepared to make changes if the need arises.

"We've got an idea of the lineup but that can always change," he said. "Last year was a prime example. We thought we had our doubles teams set and half way through the season we had to tinker a little bit."

While the strong finish of last season may fuel the Hatters in the early going, Sandlant believes hard work will take the Hatters farther than some good memories.

"(Reaching the finals last year) is definitely going to give us confidence and help us understand that we have to put the work in," Sandlant said. "We've got the talent to be successful we just have to make sure that we keep working hard. We can't be satisfied with just competing well and finishing second. We've got to do the little bit extra to try and take the next step."

As so often is the case with the ASUN, a new year brings new teams. Liberty and North Alabama have joined the league and that should make things more competitive moving forward.

The top six teams qualify for the ASUN Tournament, which will be hosted this year by Stetson, April 18-20, at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.

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Players Mentioned

Danel Ashirova: Sophomore

Brooke Milner: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Danielle Peele: 5' 8"; Junior

Lucie Renault: 5' 9"; Junior

Alexe Viaud: 5' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Danel Ashirova
: Sophomore

Brooke Milner
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Danielle Peele
: 5' 8"; Junior

Lucie Renault
: 5' 9"; Junior

Alexe Viaud
: 5' 8"; Senior

Stetson University Athletics

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Hatters Open Season Wednesday Against Morgan State

Players Mentioned

Danel Ashirova

Brooke Milner

Danielle Peele

Lucie Renault

Alexe Viaud

Players Mentioned

Danel Ashirova

Brooke Milner

Danielle Peele

Lucie Renault

Alexe Viaud