Auburn's women's tennis team is off to the hottest start in school history, surprising everyone except for the Tigers themselves. The No. 20 Tigers boast a 15-6 overall record, with an SEC record of 5-3.
Coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner took the reins as the head coach in 2012, immediately turning around a team that was struggling mightily.
In the year before Meisner arrived at Auburn, the tennis team went 5-18, only winning one conference match.
When Meisner got to Auburn, everything changed.
Meisner spoke of the talent base already at Auburn, but said her first step in rebuilding the squad was to "get everyone on the team physically and mentally healthy."
Senior Jackie Kasler has witnessed the program's transformation first-hand.
"[Mesiner's] record shows, we were unranked after my freshman year and, now, we're ranked No. 20," Kasler said.
One thing that both Kasler and Meisner stressed was the team's family dynamic with Meisner as the matriarch, allowing them to play their style of tennis and helping them improve.
While Kasler credits Meisner for the turnaround, Meisner credits Kasler as being "the heart and soul" of the team.
"[Kasler's] work ethic is incomparable, and her leadership and personality on and off the court is great," Meisner said. "She's everything Auburn athletics stands for, as far as being an amazing student, an amazing person, an amazing athlete, and she reps everything our athletic departtment family preaches every day. "
While last year's squad got to 19 wins and reached the second-highest win total in school history, this year's squad has 15 wins with six matches left.
After a pair of 4-0 losses at Kentucky and Vanderbilt, the Tigers must regroup heading into their final stretch of the season.
Their run to the finish line this season will not be easy, though, as two of the final four match are against No. 3 Georgia and No. 7 Texas A&M.
The Tigers are confident in their chances to succeed in the postseason because of how rigorous an SEC schedule is.
"I think that if you can withstand the SEC schedule and then withstand the SEC tournament that it prepares you," Meisner said. "To be honest, the SEC tournament is harder for us than the actual NCAA Tournament because you don't get an easy first round. They're all good."
As the squads only senior, Kasler has absolute faith in her team.
"When we step out on the court and believe we are going to win, there's nothing that can stop us as long as we give 100 percent and fight every match," Kasler said. "As long as we have that winning mentality, I don't see anything stopping us."
The Tigers return to action, April 4, with a home match against Missouri.
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