The Nicholls State University’s tennis team finished their fall season and are preparing for their upcoming duel tournaments in mid January.

The Colonels finished their fall season with a total of seven victories at the Georgia State Fall Invitational. Senior Isla Brock led in singles with a 2-1 record, and junior Stephanie Barnett and freshman Clemence Krug also brought home victories in singles. The Colonels, however, were unable to defeat Georgia State, who beat the Colonels in all six single matches and were 0-3 in doubles.

After playing against Southeastern Louisiana University with a 4-0 win, McNeese State University with a 4-3 win and a 2-4 loss against Northwestern State University last season, the team is ready to kick off their duel meets as current Southland Conference regular season champions.

“We’re the current champions. We were nobodies, then we became somebodies,” Milou Pietersz, sophomore, said.
Not only is the tennis team a team of champions, they also have one of the most decorated players in the program’s history, junior Stephanie Barnett.

Barnett has been named Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year for 2015, Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year, LSWA Women’s Tennis Player of the Year and First Team All-Southland (singles and doubles) among several other titles.

Senior Isla Brock also has an impressive record with the honors of Second Team All-Southland Singles, Southland Conference No. 6 Singles Champion, Second Team Southland All-Academic and Southland Player of the Week (4/14).
With their tournaments in mid January. and the duty to defend their title as regular season champions, the Colonels are gearing up to prove they are still somebodies.

“We were a nobody and then we came in as Nicholls and become somebody, and now they will want to beat us even more than they did last year,” said Pietersz. “Of course we are champions and we keep it in our back pocket, but you can’t take it as we have already done it. You can’t go in and say we are champs when there are teams who have also gotten stronger.”

With two new players this season, there needs to be a new tryout for the double couples. The returning players need to step up as role models to help guide the new members.

Training starts early in the morning and lasts three hours. They spend about an hour in the weight room they eat and go to class in between.

The Colonels do not have a set diet, but they must be in their room by 12 a.m. They are asked to watch their food consumption, but do not necessarily need to maintain a certain diet.

With new players comes the adjustment period where the returning players must accustom themselves to their new teammates. The Colonels are beginning to find their chemistry and play in sync for the duel tournaments. They are looking to see what they can improve before Jan. 8, 2016.