The ASU women’s tennis team had its first full practice of the season Thursday.
For the last few weeks, the team was doing 45 minutes of core training a day, five days a week, and a few hours of individual practice with the coaches.
The Sun Devils spent individual time with the coaches on both conditioning and making corrections to their game.
Sophomore Hannah James spent the first few weeks of the semester working on her volley and junior Michelle Brycki spent time working on her slice.
ASU coach Sheila McInerney said, the first few months of the semester are the best time for the players to develop their skills.
“Once the season starts and they’re playing match after match, they don’t have a lot of time to practice,” McInerney said. “They’re just trying to recover from the matches. It is hard to make improvements during season.”
For their first full practice, the Sun Devils played practice matches against each other. Senior Ashlee Brown and junior Sianna Simmons played each other, while senior Micaela Hein matched up against sophomore James.
“The first day of practice people were a little rusty,” McInerney said. “Playing two out of three sets is different than just hitting balls.”
The Sun Devils will continue playing practice matches against each other to get back in tennis shape in preparation for the upcoming Cal Nike Invitational.
Smith to redshirt
After re-injuring her anterior cruciate ligament at the end of last season, sophomore Nicole Smith will redshirt this season.
Smith has been in rehab and is recovering, but she will not be playing much tennis this year.
She first tore her ACL at the beginning of her freshman year and was forced to miss part of that season for rehab and recovery.
“This is the second year I’ve been out,” Smith said. “It’s definitely a struggle for me mentally, but I have found other things I love to keep myself occupied.”
It is difficult for Smith to sit on the sidelines because she likes to stay active. She swims 30 minutes to an hour a few times a week, and recently took up yoga.
The yoga and swimming are not part of her rehab, but something she decided to do on her own.
“I know in the long run, the yoga will help with my flexibility, core and my overall strength,” Smith said.
Wednesday was the first day Smith was allowed to run. She did some interval training and plyometric work that proved to be aggressive on her knees.
McInerney wants to make sure Smith is 100 percent better before she returns so she doesn’t tear the ACL again.
Smith will be missed on the court as she went 8-2 overall last year with her partner Brycki.
With Smith not able to practice, Brycki played her practice match on Thursday against assistant coach Clint Letcher.
“I want her [Smith] to get better and do everything in her power and everyone else’s power to get better quickly,” Brycki said. “We had a lot of fun playing together last year and I support her all the way and want to play with her again.”
Reach the reporter at nklauss@asu.edu
