STATESBORO - When Georgia Southern women's tennis knocked off South Alabama, 4-3, in the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Tournament title match, it did much more than just earn the Eagles their first berth into the NCAA Championships.
It culminated a building process led by Head Coach Sean McCaffrey that started three years prior, when he took over the Eagles program after coming over from Armstrong State in the consolidation of the two schools.
Georgia Southern earned a spot in the 2019 Sun Belt title match against South Alabama in just his second season with the program. A 4-1 loss to the Jaguars on that day meant there was still work to do in Statesboro.
We don't know what would have happened in the Spring of 2020 after COVID-19 canceled the season for all collegiate tennis, not just the Eagles. But the 2021 season completed the process as Georgia Southern went 19-9, knocked off the Jaguars and earned a spot in a national championship setting since the Eagles went to four straight AIAW DII National Championships from 1979-83.
So how can the Eagles continue to soar even after ticking one important goal off the list?
"Our biggest motivating factor this year has been finding a way to improve just a little bit more in all facets of our game," Head Coach McCaffrey said. "We can't allow ourselves to become complacent in our past achievements. The 2021 season is over, and we were certainly excited to win the Sun Belt Conference title, but we have even more goals that we are eager to accomplish."
The Eagles lost several important pieces of last season's title run, including fifth-year senior Paula Boixader and fellow seniors Charlotte van Diemen and Mila Hartig. But the returners are a strong batch, led by junior first-team All-Conference singles standout Nadja Meier. First-team All-Conference doubles junior Sophie Wagemaker also returns and in all, six Eagles return from last season's squad for the Spring of 2022. Seniors Hannah Daniel and Elizabeth Goines will be wrapping up their collegiate playing careers this season, while junior Paula Hijos and sophomore Sonja Keranen played important roles in last year's championship run and will look to make that next step forward on the court.
"I believe we have a lot of experience within our team," Coach McCaffrey said. "Seven of our eight women on the squad won a conference championship last year. So this team has the understanding of what it takes to compete. The team is also an extremely cohesive group. Like any team, we will experience some bumps in the road as we navigate through life and a tennis season. Particularly now, in this time of uncertainty with COVID-19 and making sure that we do our best to keep everyone safe, healthy and well.
But I believe this program gets it," Coach McCaffrey said. "All one needs to do is look at so many of the pictures in social media from our past tennis matches, or when the team is around each other. The team shows its true, pure joy for each other after a teammate has earned a tough victory, given a hug to a teammate after a difficult loss, or rushed the court after a tight 4-3 win. Their faces tell the story. Our greatest strength this season is our team culture. The ladies' desire, including mine, to fight for our positive team chemistry and culture every single day. Some days are tough, but positive leadership and sticking to our central program cornerstones will help keep us centered and moving forward."
The Eagles add a pair of newcomers to the squad this season. Sophomore Silvia Martinez Jiminez joins Georgia Southern as a transfer from Ball State, where she went 14-3 in singles and 8-3 in doubles as a freshman for the Cardinals, helping lead them to a MAC title. And freshman Dana Heimen comes to Statesboro from Germany, where she was a highly decorated junior player nationally and for her club TC Ludwigshafen Oppau.
Coach McCaffrey knows that to navigate this season's schedule, which is one of the most difficult put together by a Georgia Southern women's tennis squad, the Eagles will be seeing the best from every team day in and day out, with that target of defending champion on their backs.
"That target is certainly something new for the program," Coach McCaffrey said. "In our last full season of 2019, we were fortunate to make the Sun Belt Tournament final as a No. 8 seed. But I believe many thought we were a bit of an anomaly. We showed that to be untrue this past season, and now folks are expecting us to be the hunted. Being the underdog fit us just fine as we would often surprise folks, but now we are entering into a new era with expectations. All we can do is be relentless. Every team we play, often comes away from the match knowing they played a team with an incredible fighting spirit with high integrity."
In addition to the Sun Belt slate, the Eagles will play matches against nationally-ranked opponents such as Clemson, UCF, FIU and North Florida, along with a pair of in-state battles against Mercer. The season-opening rematch at No. 12 Georgia Tech was postponed, but the Eagles are looking to reschedule that date later this season. The home slate begins on Wednesday, February 9, with a date against the College of Charleston at 1 p.m. at the Wallis Tennis Courts.
"Our goal was to make one of the stronger mid-major non-conference schedules in the nation to start our season," Coach McCaffrey said. "And we did. Unfortunately we had our matches last week postponed, but we still have a great deal of competition ahead of us. We have shown in the past that we have improved as each season has carried out. And in each of those seasons, we have demonstrated that we will trade some early season lumps and learning opportunities, if it means that we will be better prepared for the Sun Belt Conference season. This season had, by far, the most ambitious schedule that we have ever faced. I believe it will help us immediately during the season as we continue to build on things from one match to the next. Losing is never easy, but it is often said that the greatest lessons learned are following a loss. And with our growth mindset, we plan on using each and every opportunity we have to compete to help us improve from one day to the next."
As the Eagles prepare for tomorrow's opener at Clemson, Coach McCaffrey shares what he views a successful 2022 season will look like for Georgia Southern.
"Simply, a successful season is one where we continue 'showing up' for each and every challenge put in front of us," Coach McCaffrey said. "That we pour our effort into every practice, into our teammates, into our academics, and into showing our absolute appreciation for what we get to do, along with a special appreciation towards those that help us along the way. I'm not going to get too wrapped up into what our win-loss record might be this season. I believe a successful season is one where we do the absolute best we can do in controlling all of the things we can control. A match result is often not entirely within our control. I just want to be able to come away knowing that we did what we could with each and every opportunity, challenge and situation we face. And do it with the level of love and integrity this program has demonstrated over so many seasons and years."
