April 3, 2023
Welcome back to the Cedarville Women’s Tennis Blog!
Today I will be filling you in on our last four matches.
Weekend in Cleveland:
A few weekends ago, we went to Cleveland for two matches! Our trip started on a Friday, traveling early in the morning to play against Ursuline, part of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). I believe most of us slept the entire way to the match (that’s what happens when we leave at 8 a.m., but don’t worry, we’re usually more lively). We started at noon and had a fun time playing together. We won our match 7-0! We enjoyed playing Ursuline as they are always very kind and sweet. Following the match, we ate lunch at
Bibibop and got ice cream from
Graeter’s!! We then went to our hotel for a few hours and chilled before dinner at
Applebee’s. That night, we spent most of our time all together in one room. We asked each other ridiculous questions and enjoyed making up hypothetical situations for one another. The next morning, we drove to our teammate Joelle’s house in Cleveland. Their family provided lunch for us and a place to hang out for several hours before our next match! We had fun playing the piano, solving puzzles, playing ping pong, and hearing stories from Joelle’s family. After several hours, we left and prepared to play Walsh (also in the G-MAC). While we had fun, we lost 7-0. The team is incredibly strong and helps expose our weaknesses to ourselves:). Overall, we had a really great weekend and enjoyed our stay in Cleveland!
Home match against Kentucky Wesleyan:
Last weekend, we had a home match but it was moved indoors due to the weather. This means traveling 30 minutes to the closest courts, which isn’t bad at all. It was great to play on a Friday evening. The women’s team played well and won 7-0. After our match, we ate at
Fazoli’s late at night on our quick drive back to Cedarville. We had the rest of the weekend off after Friday.
Home match against Ashland:
This past weekend, we had another home match for G-MAC and once again, we got moved indoors because of the weather. This is a common thing for us here in Cedarville, Ohio:) We left campus on Saturday at 5 p.m. and took the mini bus with the men’s and women’s teams all together which was fun! We typically travel separately, but all of the vans were being used! We played Ashland University this weekend, and they have a solid team. We lost our match but several of us felt that we played some of our best tennis! Despite the results, it was a really good match day for us and I think we are seeing improvement which is always exciting. Our match ended at 10 p.m. and we hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so we grabbed a quick dinner at
Steak n’ Shake on the way back.
This upcoming weekend we will be traveling to Michigan for a match Friday and Saturday! We’re excited to keep competing and can’t believe we only have five matches left in the season!
Thanks for tuning in! Be back next week with more results.
-Abby
March 13, 2023
Welcome back to the Cedarville Women’s Tennis Blog!
Our team just spent a week in Florida over spring break! Here’s a short description of our days spent in Orlando.
Cedarville Women's and Men's Tennis
Day 1:
The men’s and women’s teams traveled together in a charter bus to Florida. We left Cedarville a little after midnight on Saturday! We got to Orlando around 5 p.m. on Saturday night after quite the adventure. After settling in, we started our Bible study for the week and had a few people share their testimony. This is something we did every night of the trip and it was a really encouraging time.
Day 2:
Sunday morning we went to church at First Baptist Church of Kissimmee. We go to this church every spring break and it’s always fun to go back. After church, we went to
Uno’s for lunch and got some amazing deep-dish pizza. We had a practice later that night at the USTA center.
Day 3:
Match day!!! On Monday we had our first of four matches. We played against John Carroll and we got a 6-1 win! Last spring break, we lost to John Carroll in Orlando, so it was fun to have a comeback this year! Later that night, coach put together a Kahoot for both teams to play and we got to hang out in our airbnb.
Day 4:
Tuesday was our day off from tennis. We got to sleep in a little bit and then spent most of the afternoon at Disney Springs! The team walked around looking at shops, the girls all got matching anklets, and we had a nice dinner at the
House of Blues (another tradition of our beloved Coach Edlund). Later that night we went to the pool and played keep away with the guys’ team.
Day 5:
Wednesday we played Seton Hill and had a good 5-2 win! Shout out to Cedarville SID Mark Womack for coming and watching! After the match, we destroyed some pasta at
Olive Garden and went swimming once we got back to our house. I don’t think any of us had the energy to swim but we couldn’t miss out on the opportunity while in Florida.
Day 6:
Thursday we had one of the closest matches our team has ever played in my time at Cedarville. Every. Single. Match. Went to a tie break. We ended up losing 4-3 but it was so much fun to have such a tight battle against Spring Arbor. After the match, we circled up and prayed with the team and it was a really cool opportunity to show our purpose, whether we win or lose. Later we also circled up with both the men’s and women’s teams, as well as everyone’s families that came. It was such a special moment and a good reminder of our hope in the midst of a tough loss. Moments like this make me so thankful that I get to be a part of this team.
Day 7:
Friday came way too fast. Friday we had our last match and then we had to head home. We won our final match 4-3 and ended the week with a 3-1 record. We were very pleased with the week's results and the amazing memories we made together. I think we’re all already looking forward to the next trip to Florida.
Thanks for tuning in. This weekend the women have away matches against Ursuline and Walsh. We’re excited to start getting into our G-MAC matches!
Be back next week with the results!
-Abby
February 21, 2023
Welcome back to the Cedarville Women’s Tennis Blog!
This past week we had a match on Friday against Thomas More University in Kentucky. The match did not go as well as we hoped, but the team sure had a fun time together. After our matches, the women’s team prays with our opponents and hands out notes that we write based on the teams' roster. This is always something we look forward to. I think it’s a really good reminder for us that whether we win or lose, we have a much greater purpose than just playing tennis.
After the girls wrapped up, the men’s team was still on the court. It’s always fun to rally them on as we don’t always get to watch them play since we play at the same time. The men’s team also lost, but just barely! Lots of close, fun matches.
We didn’t leave Kentucky until close to 11 pm! I was expecting a quiet ride home, but in Yellow Jacket fashion, we laughed and joked the whole time (except for Megan, she slept. I will also mention that Payton, Megan, and I had to ride back with the men’s team, so my information here is not representative of the whole women’s team experience). Coach also stopped for a post-game meal at the very healthy Taco Bell. The rest of the car ride we played telephone, threw sauce packets at one another, and enjoyed being slap-happy together.
Our next match won’t be until Spring Break (whoot whoot!). In the next two weeks, we’ll be preparing ourselves for the heat of Florida. We can’t wait.
Be back next week,
-Abby
February 8, 2023
Hello! Welcome to the Cedarville Women’s Tennis Blog! My name is Abby Totten and I get to take over the blogs from our dearly missed Lauren Hollis. I hope to be as wonderful as her, but that will be a difficult task.
This year we have five new teammates! We added four freshmen to the team and brought in a junior. It has been so fun to see our team grow and navigate the new fun dynamics with everyone. I thought we could start off the blog by introducing everyone!
Let’s start with the
Seniors:
Megan VanDyke: I’m a nursing major from Hudsonville, Michigan! My favorite thing about being on the tennis team is the built-in group of friends it has provided. I love being able to laugh about inside jokes and share so many experiences with my teammates over the past four years!
Payton Krahn: I am a business management major. I am from Fort Wayne, Indiana and a senior this year on the team. My favorite part about Cedarville tennis was when I first joined. Last year was my first year playing and everyone on both the women’s and men’s teams took me in, made sure I felt included and were so intentional in getting to know me. They have become my closest group of friends and I am so thankful for the past two years on this team!
Joelle Petek: I am a psychology major from Medina, Ohio. My favorite thing about being on the tennis team is how we strive to grow in our relationships with Christ and encourage one another in that
Jessica Spry: I’m a sports business management major. I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio. My favorite thing about the team is their sense of humor.
Morgan McKinley: I am an allied health major! I am from Greensboro, North Carolina and my favorite thing about the tennis team is the community that we have! My favorite memories from college are from the time I've spent with my teammates!
Faith Triplett: I’m a finance major from Columbus, Ohio. My favorite thing about the tennis team is the friends I’ve made along the way. The memories I have with my teammates will be stories we share years from now.
Juniors:
Lauryn Leslie: I’m an electrical engineering major from Cleveland, Ohio. My favorite part of Cedarville tennis are my wonderful teammates who point me toward loving each other and Christ daily!
Abby Totten: I am a communications major from Normal, Illinois (yes, my town is very normal). My favorite thing about the tennis team is the hilarious conversations we have on the many long bus rides we take for practice and matches.
Sophomore:
Madelyn Keenan: I am a nursing major from Springboro, Ohio! The tennis team community is different than anything I’ve been a part of and I love how close we are on and off the courts.
Freshmen:
Grace Mahek: I’m a freshman nursing major from Shelby, Ohio! Something I love about being a part of the tennis team is the loving community we have and making fun of each other
Molly Filpus: My major is business management, and I’m from Bremen, Indiana. My favorite part about being on the women’s tennis team is playing my favorite sport with some of my closest friends!
Calista Bobula: I am from Brunswick, Ohio. I absolutely love how no matter the circumstances, the girls have each other's back. You could be losing 6-0 5-0 and the girls will be out on the court screaming and cheering for you, that you could make a comeback. You could be stuffing your face with Chuck's ice cream and the rest of the team will join you. You could be having a mental breakdown, and every single one of the girls would stop what they’re doing to come pray with you. It’s a community I’ve never been a part of before, and I plan to never replace it.
Faith Monson: I’m a forensic science major from Rochester, Minnesota. My favorite thing about being on the women’s tennis team is how we are like a family. They make me feel so safe and loved, especially since my actual home is pretty far away. I have already made so many memories with these girls and I know they will be my lifelong friends!
There's just a little bit about our team. We have so much fun together and it's an amazing community to be a part of :)
We had a great fall season together and hope for an even better spring! Our team has been training for our spring season with indoor hitting and lifting. We had our first match last weekend and won 4-3 against IU Kokomo. It was an exciting start to the season! Thanks for reading our first blog, we’re excited to see what this season holds.
Be back next week,
-Abby
Abby Totten is a junior from Normal, Illinois. She is Dean's List student as a communications major and is in her third season with the Lady Jackets.
