Roster:
Lalangi Marasinghe – Junior
Gabriella Chen – Junior
Justin Grossman – Senior
Jonathan Gillespie – Sophomore
Avinash Moorthy – Sophomore
Brandon Carrillo – Sophomore
Timothy Oliver – Sophomore
Emma Duggan – Sophomore
Rachel Olson – Junior
Rachel Moore – Sophomore
Teams defeated this season: Gustavus Adolphus, University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, Winona, South Dakota School of Mines
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?
From past captains of the club team. I knew I wanted to play for the club before I even came to Carleton, and I knew after joining the team that I’d love to be a captain. It has been such an amazing experience being a captain and being part of such a great team.
Q: How did you enjoy your National Championships experience last year?
It was great being able to play so many teams from all over the country of all skill levels.
Q: What does it mean to be back? Was it a more difficult road to return to Nationals?
It was a great surprise coming back, we knew as a small school that it would be difficult to do it twice in two years.
Q: In what ways has your team improved this year?
Although we didn’t gain any freshmen in our nationals team, we all were committed to coming back and did our best to practice over the summer and during the school year.
Q: What do you tell new players about Nationals, or players that are traveling for the first time to compete for your school?
I tell them how fun it is traveling with the team and playing other schools. It’s a great way to get off campus and spend a fun three days playing tennis.
Q: Who was your toughest opponent at past Nationals and how did they challenge you to become better?
Our toughest match was against Stanford. We had never played a team as good as they were, but it was such a fun experience and we enjoyed learning how to play against players who were so much better than we were.
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?
We love to use twitter to keep our alumni informed whenever we have tournaments. We try to give live tweets of scores and pictures of us having fun and playing matches.
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 have one senior on the team, although I don’t know if they know about the other opportunities.
Share with us a funny story about the 2015 team or team member(s). At Northern sectionals, hats are given to the top placing teams. Our B team, however, did not place in the highest teams, so did not receive hats. We were the last ones at the tournament, however, and there were extra hats left over. So our B team talked to Brandon, the tournament director, and asked if they could have the left over hats. Instead of giving the hats to them right away, Brandon made the B team sing 'Let It Go' to earn the hats.
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?
I’d want them to know how close we are as a team, even with the members who couldn’t come to nationals. We are lucky to go to a smaller college, so being able to know all the players so closely makes the team seem more like a family.
