The University of Mississippi Athletics
First Serve: Mark Beyers
11/21/2014 | Women's Tennis
On the heels of a successful fall season, OleMissSports.com caught up with Ole Miss women's tennis head coach Mark Beyers to talk about the fall, including key returnees, the freshmen, and the impact of the football team's success.
Q: Talk about the fall and what you think the girls did well on the court
A: I'm pretty pleased with what I saw this fall. Julia and Arianne both had excellent fall seasons, and Mai had a very good season too. I think that will show up in the rankings when they come out in January. Those girls have an opportunity to play themselves into the NCAA Tournament from an individual standpoint.
Q: Talk about the seniors, led by Julia, Iris and Erin?
A: We're going to continue to rely a lot on the three of them. They've seen it all, so they know what to expect. I also think they want to go out in the spring and have their best seasons yet.
Q: What's stood out about Julia's improvement from year to year?
A: She's just so mature on the court now. When adversity hit in the past, sometimes she might have lost her cool a little bit. This fall, she was in some battles and she kept coming out on top because she was the tougher player. She was mentally tougher than her opponents in those situations.
Q: Do you see her having a breakout year this coming spring?
A: For sure. She's already broken out, to be honest. She's got some great wins against some great opponents, and to see what she's been able to do this fall was remarkable.
Q: What about the freshmen? What did you see from them this fall?
A: Arianne picked up some really good wins and that's going to show up in the rankings. If she can just get a little more consistent, I think she could be one of the top freshmen in the country. Natalie played some great tennis when we went to Rock Hill (for the USTA event). She's had to play through some illness, but she's going to leave her mark on this team.
Q: What takes place between the fall and the spring?
A: We're in our offseason now, so we're allowed to work eight hours a week. We just want to continue to get faster, stronger and more polished in our skills.
Q: Has the success of the football team impacted your recruiting at all?
A: Without a doubt. The Ole Miss brand is at an all time high right now. Julia and I were in New York at LaGuardia Airport and had people coming up to us a lot. I don't know if that would have happened 20 years ago, but with Coach (Hugh) Freeze, the football team, Coach (Mike) Bianco and the baseball team, that's given us a lot of national exposure on TV. We hope that we can use that to help us get some of these big-time national recruits to consider Ole Miss. I really have to thank Coach Bianco and Coach Freeze for making our jobs just a little bit easier.
