The Auburn women's tennis team began its season at the Auburn Fall Invitational Sept. 7, and the ladies are already in sharp form.
The Tigers began their schedule Friday and looked exceedingly comfortable on their home courts at the Yarborough Tennis Center.
The team started hot by winning 14 of 15 matches in both singles and doubles on the opening day of play.
Freshman Ashley Kitchen notched two singles wins on Friday and a doubles win with sophomore partner Lauren Levant.
Not to be outdone, Levant matched Kitchen with a pair of singles wins.
Seniors Plamena Kurteva and Paulina Schippers both celebrated two singles wins and a doubles win.
Junior Jackie Kasler also won both of her singles matches on Friday.
Teaming up with sophomore Jen Pfeifler the pair won in doubles on opening day as well.
"I am very pleased with our performance," said coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner. "Making five out of six singles finals [after day one] was a great way to start."
When Saturday rolled around, the Tigers were prepared to continue their good work on the home courts.
Kasler had a perfect Saturday, winning her doubles title with partner Pfeifler and her singles title.
"Kasler stands out as someone just coming back who's got a lot of confidence," Longbotham Meisner said. "She's really worked hard this summer, so winning her flight as well as winning the number one doubles flight was great."
"I felt good," Kasler said, "I felt like I played solid, I played smart. I just felt comfortable and wasn't nervous."
Kasler cited being confident in her game as the difference in her performance from last year to this.
"I think I'm more confident in who I am as a player," Kasler said. "I know my game style and I don't like to stray away from it. I just play my game, and I think that's why I was successful."
Kitchen capped off the weekend and won her singles flight.
She also teamed up with Levant to win their doubles flight on Saturday.
"[Kitchen's] energy was great, her confidence and just her overall play really stood out to me," Longbotham Meisner said. "It could go either way with a freshman, especially with the first tournament, but I think that since we had it in Auburn made it very comfortable for her."
Kurteva capped off the victories on Saturday with a singles title of her own.
"I think for the first tournament this was very good," Kurteva said. "My energy was very good. I felt like I was very consistent, and that was actually one of my goals for the weekend... I felt like I was playing with a much better backhand, and something that I have worked on a lot is my return in doubles, and I believe that I have improved that."
Kurteva said she was pleased with her play this weekend, but she acknowledged there is always room for improvement.
"I want to add a bit of aggressiveness to my game," Kurteva said. "And obviously it's just the beginning of the season, so more things will probably come up."
The Tigers finished an excellent Saturday by winning five out of their six singles finals despite a slight delay due to rain.
"I'm very pleased at how fit the girls came back, "Longbotham Meisner said. "They're mentally and physically ready to go, which is always a blessing when you have a summer off. They all trained. The returners all trained during the summer... We're going to take it one tournament at a time, and we're going to keep looking at tape because each person is more individualized in the fall, but we don't really have a team goal as yet."
The Tigers will continue practicing hard until their next tournament, the UNLV Invitational in Las Vegas, Sept. 23-25. Shortly after the team will travel to Pacific Palisades, Calif., for the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships Sept. 29-Oct. 7.
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