This past weekend, the Hopkins Women’s Tennis team visited Fredericksburg, Virginia to take on Oberlin, UC Santa Cruz, and 26th nationally ranked Case Western. The Blue Jays continued their undefeated season by handily defeating all three teams 8-1, 9-0, and 7-2 respectively, to maintain the top spot in the NCAA rankings. Many strong performances contributed to these wins, but no one stood out quite like Hailey Hogan, who won all six of her matches. She split her wins between singles and doubles matches, losing only one set combined in her singles matches and winning each of her doubles matches with a different partner. For her dominating performance this past week, the News-Letter is proud to present Hailey Hogan as the athlete of the week. She was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions about her matches this past weekend as well as the rest of the season.
News-Letter: This past weekend you played six matches in just three days. What was your approach going into these games? Did you try to conserve your energy knowing you had more matches to play, or were you able to focus on one match at a time?
Hailey Hogan: Playing 6 matches this week was definitely grueling. However, our team has been training very hard with our new trainer in both the offseason and throughout this season, so I feel as if all of our fitness is better than ever. I was trying to focus on one match at a time and try my absolute best during every point, rather than focusing on future matches.
NL: On all three days you played a singles and doubles match, in which you paired with three different teammates. How does your playing style change between a single or doubles and do you make adjustments depending on your partner?
HH: My game stays pretty consistent in both singles and doubles. I am a pretty crafty player which I believe benefits me during doubles play. I play relatively similar in my singles matches and I try to get to the net whenever possible. During practice we all do the same doubles drills and practice playing with different partners. All of our girls have great volleys and we are all taught the same strategies in doubles, which makes it very easy to play with other people.
NL: The team is undefeated this season with a 9-0 record, and sits atop the NCAA rankings. What has been the reason for this success?
HH: Our team dynamic is incredible this year. All of our practices have been great and we continually push one another. We all have the same end goal in mind and we are all very excited for the rest of the season. In addition, we have been working very hard on our fitness, which I believe has contributed to our success in grueling matches. Also, our team is so deep throughout the lineup and everyone feels as if we can count on one another to pull through those tough matches.
NL: This is your senior year and many freshmen such as Judy Law and Amanda Austi have come up big in games so far this season. Do you take it as your responsibility to help these players adjust to college level games?
HH: Our freshmen are so incredibly mature it blows my mind! They have come through in huge matches and I could not be more proud and pleased how they have adjusted to college tennis. I look up to them just as much as I hope they look up to me and I can only hope that I am leading them by example throughout our season!
NL: You are also predicted to win nationals over Williams, who has won the NCAA tournament the past six years and eliminated you from the tournament last year in the quarterfinals. What does the team need to do to continue the success they’ve had this year to reach that goal?
HH: Williams is an incredibly tough opponent as are the other teams in Division 3. The only thing our team can do at the moment is take it one match at a time and focus on our game. We will continue to believe in one another and fight for every ball. At this point, that is all we can do! But we are so excited to fight and leave it all on the court!
The Jays will look to continue their undefeated season this Saturday against their toughest competition yet, against third-ranked Emory. Emory was the runner-up in last years NCAA tournament and has gone 14-2 so far this year.
