Following a solid fall performance, the Eastern Washington women's tennis team looks to hit the ground running to start the 2015 season under head coach Dustin Hinson.

Before ringing in the New Year, the Eagles displayed several instances of standout performances across their fall tournaments. Facing several top-quality individuals from teams like Oregon, Washington, and Washington State, EWU hopes to take the skills developed into its opening weekend of matches versus Boise State and Lewis Clark State.

Hinson talked about the improvement the tennis team experienced by saying, "Our big regional tournament at Stanford in the fall, and when we compared last season's results to this season's, we far exceed what we did the previous year as far as wins, as well as performance. Then coming back and playing a Gonzaga tournament that had a lot of local teams, we played well. We are at the tipping point now where some of the athletes are seeing that we have the ability to do this. It's allowing for us to get our confidence. That's why I am so excited to jump into the season to see what they can do since they performed so well."

"We're really happy with the progress from the fall," said Hinson, "We had two freshmen that came in this year after last year having five. If you look at the roster, there are a lot of young players making us a young team."

This year's two new players in freshmen Rachel Swindell and Janaya Smith have already made waves earlier this year by helping the Eagles pick up the Baker City Grass Court Tournament title back in October. "Both of our freshman this year, Rachel Swindell and Janaya Smith, I am really happy about and excited about how they have done in the fall and how they have been doing going into the season.  They are not only talented physically on the court but what I really like is their on-court demeanor. Even when things might not be going their way they still maintain a positive mindset and believe things can go their way," said Hinson.

EWU's four returning sophomores in Erin Blessing, Katrina Domingo, Carolina Lopez, and Dani Young, also contributed greatly in the fall competitions, and along with upperclassmen Chrissy Uriarte and Brittany Ellingsen, have been able to make great strides in their performance since last year.

"The returning athletes came back fit and ready to go and I was pleased with how they started immediately with that experience in helping the freshmen come in," commented Hinson.

Unfortunately for this season, the Eagles will be without veteran Moira Hedberg for the year due to a shoulder surgery that redshirted her for the season. "She still has a year left so we are looking forward to that next year, but it has been a good opportunity for her to kind of help some of the younger players that are coming up," stated Hinson.

Finalizing his interpretations of the fall tournaments, Hinson stated, "The thing that I really liked was that sense of group unity that the team had, sort of that family feel. That is the biggest thing that helps them perform when paired with the talent that they all have. It feels like they are doing it for the team and not for themselves. They push each other to be their best."

With a young team and an impressive set of results in the fall, the Eagles believe that as long as they focus on some of their core values that they can succeed in what will be a rigorous schedule. "We talk about our goals quite a bit. The major thing for us is to pursue the conference tournament and championship, but if we put our creed, our motto, into action then we will see success," said Hinson, "We feel if go out and give our absolute best effort all of the time, work hard, have a good attitude, and focus on our group unity then we will get there."

Eastern's first five road nonconference matches of the year will certainly be challenging, but remain close to home in the opening moments of the season. "We have a pretty competitive nonconference schedule this year. A lot of the local teams are great, which is good for us. They are teams that will push us and allow for us to get to point where we are right there with them. It is going to help the players realize that this is the kind of competition we want to pursue because it helps us get better and that is what we want moving through the season," specified Hinson.

Even with the reduced travel agenda, Hinson and the team understand that the year will be a constant uphill climb. However, the team plans to embrace the challenge by pushing through and not allowing it to affect their confidence.

"I would like to see our confidence build, the belief that we are Eagles build and that no one is going to take anything from us. We want to leave everything on the court each time we practice and compete and the results will take care of themselves. It's going to be a hard fought year as it always is, especially in the Big Sky where anyone can beat anyone on a given day. With that in mind it challenges us to give our best on the court every time regardless of our opponent. "

The Eagles also plan to use the accomplishments of several other programs on campus as inspiration to play the best that they can. "We look at our other programs here on campus it really gives hope and it allows for us to believe that we can beat anybody we play against," states Hinson.

EWU will look to ride its fall success and confidence into its opening weekend of matches against Boise State, on Jan. 16, at 5:00 p.m., and Lewis-Clark State, on Jan. 17, at 10:00 a.m. Both meetings will be held in Boise, Idaho.