Plenty of pleasant surprises in women’s tennis season

Only a half point away from a trip to the national tournament is quite a way to end the season, but was just another pleasant surprise from the 2017 Cyclone women’s tennis team.

Only two returners—LeAnn Peschel (Oak Lawn) and Ana Karen Lagunas (Bremen), the latter who competed at nationals in May—accompanied by four newcomers filled the roster. Head Coach Mike Giordano was hired in late August and had little time to prepare his team. Once they got on the court, however, they proved their skills.

“I don’t think anyone expected us to do as well as we did. At our last practice, we thought we had a chance [to make nationals]. Everything went well,” Giordano said.

The Cyclones finished with an overall 6-3 record and 3-2 Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference record. They ended the season in a highly contested NJCAA Region IV tournament (Oct. 13-14). After the first day of competition, the Cyclones were in good position to win. Lagunas, Peschel and Mary Stocklen (Shepard) had big upsets, defeating players they lost to in the regular season to get into the finals. Five out of six Cyclones competed in finals, they just needed one more win to take first.

“A lot of things could’ve happened over those days. Losing by a half point was a tough pill to swallow. But they came to play. They were really mentally tough, and only LeAnn and Ana Karen had competed in regionals before,” Giordano said.

Michelle Ambriz (Argo) at No. 2 singles and Audrey Stocklen (Shepard) at No. 6 singles won their finals matches. Both lost the first set and battled back in the second set and tiebreaker to become individual region champs.

Part of the collective focus, Giordano believes, was due to his unorthodox methods of keeping his team in check. Once they arrived at the region tournament, he collected their phones, allowing them just five minutes to contact friends or family members to share results.

“It was fantastic. I think that was key. They weren’t distracted by the phone and instead cheered on their teammates and focused on the match,” Giordano said.

That wasn’t the first time Giordano tried something different with his young athletes. At one practice he had the players remove their shoes and socks to work on footwork.

Through it all, the Cyclones improved with each match and played some good tennis, battling successfully through many tiebreakers. The Stocklen sisters were undefeated at No. 3 doubles in conference, earning All-Conference honors. There was plenty to be happy with this season.

“I really enjoyed coaching this team in my first run as head coach,” Giordano said. “Proud is an understatement of how I felt about their performance this year and especially at regionals.”