Women’s tennis off to a good start

The Rose-Hulman women’s tennis team had a great recruiting class this year. The team had a record of 1-8 last season, but two standout freshmen have boosted them to 6-2 this season. Freshman computer engineer Sam Danesis is undefeated in #1 singles play and in doubles play, while freshman chemical engineer Julie Hopkins is undefeated in #2 singles play.

With her talent, Danesis could’ve played tennis almost anywhere. “I have a couple friends who play for a Division I team and I can beat them, so I could definitely make their team,” said the Akron, OH native. “But I don’t think I could make Ohio State’s team.”

But Danesis was more concerned about Rose-Hulman’s academic environment than the tennis team. “I was looking at the top engineering schools and of course Rose-Hulman came up. So I was interested in Rose-Hulman before I even talked to the coach, but I had to make sure there was a tennis team here, and so we talked a couple of times over the phone,” said Danesis.

Hopkins passed up a full-ride scholarship to Florida Institute of Technology to attend Rose-Hulman. “She felt this was the best choice for her being close to home and having the degree choice that she wanted,” said her father, head coach Dan Hopkins.

Neither Hopkins nor Danesis listed athletics as a high priority in choosing a school. It seems that athletes come to Rose for the same reasons any student comes to Rose, but until recently, Rose-Hulman’s women’s teams have had difficulty bringing in talent. Women’s soccer didn’t have a winning season until 2002, while the women’s basketball team had its first winning season last year.

Since 2002, however, the women’s soccer team has had a winning season every year. “I think it’s a snowball effect as far as recruiting classes,” said Director of Residence Life Erik Z. Hayes. “Once you start getting a good class… new recruits look at it and go, ‘Man, they’re a really good D3 team, it’s a good school anyway, I think I’ll go there,’ instead of looking at it and going, ‘You know, they’re 2-8, it’s a good school, but not a very good program there, maybe I’ll look at somewhere else.’” If Hayes is right, this year’s strength could translate to long-term success for women’s tennis.

Having Danesis and Hopkins at one and two allows other players to face more beatable opposition. Junior chemical engineer Mandy Grantz went 1-8 at #2 singles last year, but is 5-3 this year in the #3 spot. “I thought two was maybe a little too high,” said Grantz. “I played as low as six in high school and I wasn’t used to being up that high… I think I’m more comfortable at three.”

Rose-Hulman’s switch from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference has also contributed to the team’s success. Rose-Hulman has a 5-1 conference record this year. “We have been up against tough competition for the past six years. Now it’s not quite as difficult,” said Hopkins.

“We’re a lot more competitive in this conference,” said Grantz.

Rose’s five HCAC wins have come against teams with sub-.500 conference records, but they have tougher competition coming up. This Saturday, the team travels to Hanover Saturday to play Hanover and Franklin. Hanover and Franklin are also 5-1 in conference play, with all three teams having a loss against undefeated Manchester. Saturday’s matches could determine which team can challenge Manchester for the conference championship.

“Hanover’s going to be a tough match. Their one singles girl is really good too, so it’ll be a tough match for me,” said Danesis. Hanover’s Katie Fleschner is also undefeated in #1 singles in conference play.

Regardless of what happens this weekend, Hopkins thinks this will be a great year: “Needless to say, all the past records for women’s tennis are going to fall.”