Roster:
Amanda Moore – Grad
Naida Ortega – Senior
Susanna Rantanen – Freshman
Candace Rizzi-wise – Junior
Corey Rizzi-wise – Senior
Sean Seyler – Grad
Alex Dunning – Sophomore
David Battock – Junior
Teams defeated this season: UTEP, NMSU, GCU, UNM, NAU
Q: How did you first hear about the Tennis On Campus program? What made you decide to actively take part and also become a leader on your campus? How do you feel about TOC and being a captain?
I first heard about Tennis on Campus at the ASU club fair and I immediately joined. The first year I played, I really got a lot out of the tennis program on my campus, but also saw a lot of room for improvement, so I decided to take an active role in the leadership board. I feel like Tennis on Campus is a great program that provides students the opportunity to play competitive tennis during college. Being a captain is a really rewarding role because I get to help organize many of the fun events and travel we get to do.
Q: How did you enjoy your National Championships experience last year?
We really enjoyed the National Championships last year. It’s always fun to play teams from around the nation, rather than the same teams we play at our normal tournaments throughout the year. It was also fun traveling so far from home as a team!
Q: What does it mean to be back? Was it a more difficult road to return to Nationals?
It really means a lot to us to be back at the National Championships. A lot of our players are seniors and we have been playing together for a few years now, so we are really excited that this tournament will be the conclusion of our tennis on campus time together. It does feel like the road to return to Nationals was a little bit harder this year, a lot of the teams in our section have really improved, and we’ve had to work very hard to make it here! But we’re so happy our hard work paid off.
Q: In what ways has your team improved this year?
I think our team has improved in our overall cohesion and team morale. We’ve been able to figure out the best ways to communicate with each other and help each other improve in our tennis games. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, and this past year we’ve figured out how to work with each other to improve our overall team.
Q: What do you tell new players about Nationals, or players that are traveling for the first time to compete for your school?
Enjoy this tournament and have fun. You may feel a heightened sense of pressure because of the size and importance of the tournament, but in the end, the most important thing is to enjoy your time and really take advantage of this opportunity. It is so much fun meeting so many new teams and playing against them. Of course it’s important to play your best, but remember to have fun and enjoy this unique opportunity.
Q: Who was your toughest opponent at past Nationals and how did they challenge you to become better?
Purdue has been one of our toughest opponents at past Nationals. This school challenged us to become better because through the process of losing to them, we gained motivation to become better as individual players and as a team.
Q: Does your team actively use social media to stay connected? If so, what social media platforms are your favorites? Does your team use social media in any special way that you feel sets you apart from other teams?
Our team primarily uses our team’s Facebook page as our social media platform. We update the page with tournament results, pictures from tournaments, pictures from other events we attend, and updates on our activities. It helps our club and our supporters stay up to date on what’s going on with our club.
Q: Do you have many seniors on your team? Do you think they know about opportunities after graduation like “Sets in the City” or young adult social leagues? Do you think anyone on your team would be interested in starting one?
We do have quite a few seniors on our team this year and they do know about opportunities after graduation. I think the decision for whether or not anyone would start a social league would depend on the time commitment.
Share with us some of the ways you help out in the local and global communities in the name of tennis.
Our club highly values community service and involvement. We participate in community service events as a team, such as volunteering at special Olympics events, packing food bags for undernourished children around the world (Feed My Starving Children), participating in canned food drives, and making food for the homeless (Paz de Cristo). We also stay highly involved in our community through attendance to ASU events as a team and participation in wellness events as a team.
Share with us a funny story about the 2015 team or team member(s).
We are a very food-oriented team. When we went to the tournament in Albuquerque, NM, we were all so excited to go back to Frontier (a Mexican food restaurant). We ate there for every meal and probably had eight burritos each that weekend.
If a local newspaper was to write a story about your team what is the one thing you’d want to make sure they included?
We would want to make sure they included how much of a family our team is and how passionate we are about our community involvement as a team.
