Freshmen Look to Contribute To Women's Tennis Team
11/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Nov. 30, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. - This year's women's tennis team is joined by three new faces. These freshmen will round out an already young, but talented squad. These young ladies all come from different areas of the world and have joined together as Spartans with one common goal: winning a Big Ten Championship.
Freshmen Stephanie Kebler, Ana Milosevljevic and Marianne Eelens have already gained precious collegiate experience participating in the fall tennis season, but have also been contributing to the team in a large way as well.
Kebler and Milosevljevic have already notched their first tournament wins as Spartans this year. Stephanie Kebler earned her win at the Wildcat Invitational in Evanston, Ill., on Oct.11, while Milosevljevic put up her tournament win earlier in the season at the Wolverine Invitational on Oct. 2.
Head coach Tim Bauer hasn't been surprised by the success of his younger players.
"I think I had a pretty good read on what they could do," said Bauer. "It's exceptional that they're being successful right away. It will really help them have confidence in themselves."
All three newcomers gained tennis experience before college in many different ways. Kebler played her high school tennis right down the road from East Lansing in Okemos, Mich., while Marianne Eelens, from Noord, Aruba has never been part of a tennis team.
"We don't have high school tennis at home," said Eelens. "I always played tennis alone, not on a team. Now that I'm on a team it's really different and I really like it."
Eelens is not the only international player on the women's team this year. Milosevljevic, who hails from Johannesburg, South Africa, joins Eelens, junior Pascale Schnitzer (Santiago, Chile) and junior Sarah Andrews (Darwin, Australia) to round out the team's international roster.
Although they have mixed emotions about experiencing Michigan winters, Eelens and Milosevljevic are happy to be a part of the Spartan family. Along with these two international recruits, the Spartans add yet another hometown player in Kebler to join sophomore Christine Bader, also from Okemos.
"Tennis is a very international sport," said Bauer. "It's not unusual; we've always had a couple of international players. I also like to have a hometown player or players from the state. We have a good balance. We have a couple of kids from Okemos and a couple of kids from the other side of the world."
These three freshmen's desire to improve and learn from the upperclassmen and their coach has led to an improvement on an already solid team chemistry. "They've helped us learn to be competitive, strong and confident," said Kebler. "They're older and more experienced and show us how to help each other and be supportive, and not just with tennis either."
The team is also mixing and matching these freshmen well with older players in doubles matches. Junior Jessica Baron has teamed with freshman Stephanie Kebler to post an 8-6 mark for the fall season. Although it is nice to pair a younger player with a more experienced one, Bauer looks to pair players whose game and personalities fit together. So far, Eelens and Milosevljevic have fit together nicely as a doubles combo, winning four out of their six doubles matches in the fall season. Milosevljevic also teamed with Schnitzer for a doubles win earlier in the fall season.
Combined, these three freshmen posted a 24-12 record for the fall in singles play and will help round out MSU's singles lineup. Kebler, who posted a 9-5 mark in the fall also qualified for the main singles draw at the Wilson ITA Midwest Regional Championships. Leading the Spartan freshmen in terms of record was Milosevljevic with 11 wins and only three losses.
All three are positive about their experience in the fall season and are looking forward to the spring. The Spartans' spring season will begin on January 14, against the University of Virginia.
Players Mentioned
