As another season is about to begin for the Cats, it’s easy to get excited as well as inspired by watching the US Open. There have been some great matches and stories this year, especially on the American side.  Several members of both the men’s and women’s team spent time at the Open during the first week.  Alums from last year’s team included Caryn, Stein, and Sherman. They joined many of the returning players, Fenno, Ryan, Max, Reiss, Jeff, Woods, Meg, Erika, and Maria. I’m sure there were many other Bates Alums around the grounds while we were there watching some of the same great tennis we were.

You can’t help but get excited about getting back to Bates and back on the courts at the Wallach Center after seeing the pros at their best. The Cats started practice yesterday with some new faces that you will get to know throughout the fall, as well as all the familiar faces from last year. It’s an exciting time for Bates tennis, the men’s team hopes to build off of the National Championship Amrit and Stein captured last May. A young women’s team looks to continue to grow and mature. The downside of Caryn graduating is we lose our #1 player, but the positive is we only lost one player out of the starting line-up. With a team full of sophomores who got a great deal of playing time last year, several senior leaders, and another strong group of freshman, this will be a year we move forward.

The Cats get right into competition, with the men traveling to Middlebury for the Middlebury Invitational on Sept 19-20. That same weekend the women will travel to MIT to compete in the ITA Regional Championships. If you are in the area of either tournament, we would love to have you come out and support us. And don’t forget, Alumni weekend is Sept. 25-27 and Parents Weekend is Oct. 2-4.