The Northern Kentucky University Men’s and Women’s Tennis Teams have finished its regular season and are looking forward to tournament play.
Both teams have experienced ups and downs as the men capped off with a win over Saint Joseph’s College to finish 8-9, while the women dropped its match to close it out 5-10.
The men enter the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with an almost identical regular season record and conference record as last year, when they entered the tournament 9-8 and 3-1 in GLVC. The Norse enter the Tournament having won its last two matches and in second place in the GLVC East.
Fudala, a sophomore from Cincinnati, has proven to be one of the Norse’s most reliable players this season. He leads the team with an 11-3 record, and is near the top in the GLVC where he is 7-0 in conference play.
“Our team is very prepared,” Josh Fudala said. “We are feeling good as a squad right now winning our last two matches pretty convincingly and ready to take on whomever.”
Fudala is not the only Norse player who has proven to be successful this season. Fellow sophomores Jason Kramer, Fritz Dlabik and Kurt Collins all have winning records to help the team as well.
On the women’s side, the season didn’t turn out to be what they would hope. They finished the year fifth of six in the GLVC East, and will not play in the conference tournament due to a lack of roster members.
The women have played three members short of a full roster all season, which prohibits them from playing in the conference tournament.
Despite having a rough year, there were many bright spots along this season. One of those was freshman Stephanie Isaacs. Isaacs, from Waynesville, Ohio, had an overall record of 14-2 in singles play and along with partner junior Emily Okerson, had a doubles record of 13-3.
Despite having the best record on the team, Isaacs doesn’t see herself as standing above the rest, and knows that it is a team effort.
“I don’t set myself above anyone else just because my record is better,” she said, “But I do try my hardest to be a positive leader and encourager on the team.”
For the Men, they enter the GLVC tournament as the No. 2 seed from the East. They will take on the No. 3 seed from the West, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 11 a.m. on April 20. The winner of that match will then move on to play the winner of the St. Joseph’s/Drury match at 3 p.m.