Women’s Tennis Under New Assistant Coach
by Jacy Johnston
Maria Mota, a 2015 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan, is the new assistant coach for Concordia’s women’s tennis team.
“It’s nice to have Maria to help with the girl’s team because really it is just a different dynamic [coaching] girls, and Maria really gets that,” sophomore Annie Horn said.
Mota won two GPAC titles while playing in the No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles slots on the Nebraska Wesleyan tennis team. She began coaching at Concordia in the fall of 2015.
“[Coaching] has been one of the best experiences of my life,” Mota said. “Everybody here is just so respectful, considerate and kind. It has been an honor. It is a very Christian atmosphere for sure.”
This season, the tennis team is made up of four sophomores and seven freshmen, so the team will not have to fill any gaps after graduation.
“It’s exciting because these are our building years, so every year we are just getting stronger,” Horn said.
Horn leads the team on the court in the No. 1 singles and has become a role model for the younger girls.
“I think the sophomores have definitely stepped up and taken a leadership role, which is really cool to see because there has been some mentorship there, and it has only been after a year,” Mota said.
The team has started the spring season with a 4-13 record overall and a 2-3 record in the GPAC. When the team is not competing, the players are training with consistent conditioning and daily practice.
“Everybody has stepped up and recognized what we expect from them,” Mota said. “We set this baseline in the fall where you’re not even going to touch your rackets for the first fifteen to thirty minutes. (Instead,) we are just conditioning, and I think that was a shock of ‘I’m on a college team and this is real.’”
Mota said the team is making huge improvements since fall semester, which suggests the team will have a strong spring season.
“I’m so proud of them, because I could see in the fall they were getting tired,” Mota said. “Now in the spring season, they are out there, and they are ready to grind for like three hours on the court.”
