NEWTON, Mass. – In just their fifth year of existence, the Mount Ida College women's tennis program is looking to grow, and new head coach Payum Payman is helping to lay a foundation that will allow them to do just that.
The Mustangs, who are trying to make their third appearance in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) postseason, were picked sixth in the GNAC women's tennis preseason poll, announced this week by the conference office.
Payman recognizes that he has a young and inexperienced group of about eight girls, mostly freshman, and that his biggest goal is improvement.
"I want the student-athletes to grow, to get better, and to get more athletic," said Payman. "If we get better every day – get better at our footwork drills, become better athletes – then we are doing good things. I want to start a tradition with this year's class and then the program will start to take off."
Mount Ida has just two returning players, including junior Patti Ann Doucette, who is entering her third year as a member of the women's tennis team. She and returner Kaytlen Putnam will serve as co-captains of the squad and both have been instrumental in communicating over the summer and working hard to helping the team stay together and succeed.
The most notable new addition to the squad will be freshman Jennifer Lord, who played four years of high school tennis and figures to be an on-court presence for the Mustangs. "Jennifer fits right into the category of players we want here," said Payman. "She wants her teammates to get better, wants to help them, and wants to learn and get better herself."
"I'd rather have a good group of kids as far as who they are as people," says Payman, who emphasized that building a fun and supportive environment will help to grow his team as well. "These are people who are going to be productive members of society once they leave Mount Ida, and that's what coming to college is about."
Mount Ida opens their season with a home match against Eastern Nazarene on September 3rd at 3:00 pm. They will play eight of their twelve matches this season on the Mount Ida College tennis courts, including their GNAC opener on September 21st against Simmons College, who was picked overwhelmingly to win the conference for the sixth consecutive year.