Chicago, Ill. - After winning the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) women's tennis tournament in the 2021-22 season, and securing the team's first berth into the NCAA Division III Women's Championship tournament, Illinois Tech women's tennis has been absent from postseason play the last two seasons. The Scarlet Hawks are looking to change that this season, with a mix of returning and new players who are hungry to get the team back into NACC tournament play. That journey begins Saturday, when the Scarlet Hawks host Wartburg College at 11:30am at the XS Tennis Center.

"They're more driven than last year," said Head Coach Kris Powell. "Last year we were just establishing culture. They are looking to be way more competitive (this season) and want a different result from last year, and that's really good to see" said Powell.

In the conference preseason poll, the Scarlet Hawks were picked to finish sixth in the conference standings, which, if held to form, the Hawks would make their return to the conference tournament. The top six teams in the conference qualify for the postseason play.

The Hawks return four players from last year's squad: seniors Hannah Markiewicz (Chicago, Illinois) and Ashley Dame, junior Rhea Karumuru, and sophomore Paige Geiger. They are joined by first-year recruit Martyna Kalinowska, a local product from Homer Glen, Illinois, and junior Angelica Conwell of Naperville, Illinois. Conwell competed on the 2022-23 squad. 

Powell likes the identity the team has established early on. 

"I think it's transitioned...to a competitive yet fun team atmosphere" said Powell. "They've achieved a balance."

The competitive drive from this year's squad comes from seeing what their counterparts on the men's side have accomplished from a postseason play standpoint the last few years.

"They came with a goal" said Powell. "They saw the success from the men's side, and a lot of (the returning players) said "we want that"." 

Coach Powell identified the ability to win close matches as something that could make a difference in helping the team achieve their postseason goals.  

"We've been very close (in qualifying for the conference tournament recently). We had a lot of tough matches, a lot of 4-5 final scores, and we realize that if we push ourselves a little bit more...hopefully it will get us to our goal of making the NACC tournament" said Powell.

Despite the goal of qualifying for the postseason, Powell doesn't want the team to lose sight of what the focus should be throughout the season.

"Yes we established goals (for the season), but right now we're mainly focused on objectives to get us to the goal" Powell said. 

Powell used the word tenacious to summarize this year's team.

"I want them to be one ball tougher" said Powell. "They're not afraid to go into the net, and that's where all the points in a match (typically) happen.

Up Next

The Scarlet Hawks open their season this Saturday at 11:30am, when they host the Wartburg College Knights at the XS Tennis Center.