The Lady Dragons Dragons tennis HC Kristin Unverzagt, was kind enough to take time out of her schedule to answer some questions about the season.
1. How many years have you been coaching here at Pine City?
8 years as the head coach and 4 years as the assistant coach
2. Who are your assistant coaches?
Samantha Tate (JV), Anna Miller (Assistant), Jeff Adams (Volunteer), and John Eberhart (Volunteer)
3. What is the lead up to the season like for you, what are some things you do to prepare?
To lead up to the season and prepare, we play as many matches as possible. We will have 13 matches under our belt before school begins. We want the team to improve each time we step on the court and having a tough pre-season schedule allows us to do this. The team is able to play great matches and learn from strong opponents.
4. Is this year's roster younger or more veteran or a mix of both?
This year's team is younger as we only have 4 returning varsity players. However, we will be led by the strong example and tradition of past teams and the girls are ready to step in and work hard to reach our team goals.
5. Who are the team captains?
Brooke Boland, Alana Linnell, Vivian Lahti
6. What are some things you look for when evaluating your team to determine who will be the starters?
With tennis, chemistry between doubles partners and head to head matches determine our team line up. We also look at the strengths of our opponents and try to create a match up that will provide us an opportunity to win 4 points.
7. What are your goals for the season?
The team has high expectations for this season. We hope to continue to build on the tradition of Dragon tennis and take a run at the conference and section title. The team has a lot of potential and is off to a great start! We continue to improve each time we are on the court.
8. What are some things you had success with last year, you'd like to have success with again this year?
The girls had a common vision to get better each day. They knew that the harder they pushed each other in practice would produce results in matches. The team chemistry, willingness to make mistakes and learn from them, and the camaraderie and fun will help our team find success.
9. Your team has made state the last few years, as a coach how do you make sure your team is focusing one match at a time instead of looking at trying to get back to state?
This year's team only has four players with state tournament experience. The experience of these four will help us focus on our goals, but they also have had experience focusing on one match at a time. We do not overlook any opponents and know that we will have to grind out our matches this year.
10. What are you most excited for this year?
I am most excited to see the growth of this team. In one week, we have already improved so much. The team is willing to work hard and has a lot of fun.
11. What are some of the positive things about the upperclassmen on your team?
The team will be led by our four returning letter winners and our one senior, Samantha Root. They have a strong work ethic and enjoy being around one another. The team chemistry is huge to create a safe place to push one another, but also allow grace to make mistakes and learn from them.
12. What players are you expecting strength from this year?
Our returning varsity players are Brooke Boland, Alana Linnell, Vivian Lahti, and Kate Unverzagt. With the experience of last year’s season, we will count on them to step up and lead with a strong example as we begin this season. They have been doing a great job and are flexible to different positions in the line up and always want what is best for the team. All players know that it will be a collective effort to reach our team goals so we will count on each player in each match.
13. Through the first few matches this season, what have you liked and what are some things you'd like to see improved on?
The team's willingness to learn and work hard will help us reach our goals. We have tried six different lineups in our first six matches. The team's willingness to work together to put our team in the most competitive position is what will help our team grow.
14. Any upcoming milestones?
We will begin our conference matches on September 5 @ Pierz. We will host our home tournaments this year on Friday, August 23, and Saturday, September 7. We will also head to Hibbing for our annual overnight trip for a tournament on Saturday, September 14.
15. Any matches or meets that you're looking forward to?
We look forward to all matches as they are opportunities to improve.
16. Best way to keep up to date on your team?
I post updates on the dragon tennis facebook page. I can also continue to email results if that works for you.
17. Anything else you'd like to add?
This will be a fun team to watch as they have made progress and continue to grow in our first week of the season. Their team chemistry, smiles, and work ethic will be the key to our success this season. The players are great role models and have high expectations both on the court and in the classroom!
Once again thanks to Coach Unverzagt for answering some questions about the season!
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