By Alex Pinto ‘17
Published February 2015
The Wildcats men’s and women’s Tennis teams kick off a three-month, 18-match schedule on February 21, with an away match at Ferrum. That includes nine matches on their home court. We spoke to junior Dina Velazco, who says the team is aiming to win 80 percent of their doubles matches, and ending in the top five of ODAC. Accomplish this has meant a good deal of off-season condition and strength training. Here’s some of what Velazco had to say about her pre-season training regimen.
“Each break our coach gives us an off-season workout meant for us to be physically really for each season,” Velazco said. The team is to condition and get into the weight room as an individual and as a team. Besides, as many know, injuries are a part of a sport. There are many ways to prevent and take care of these injuries. Stretching, drinking water, eating correctly, and sleep can not only affect the performance of an athlete, but also plays a huge role on injury prevention and healing.
Velazco is one of the many players here at Randolph who has experienced injuries. “Since my first year, the injuries that I have had are a sprained ankle, a back injury, and had bursitis and tendonitis on my right shoulder. For each injury, I have had to rest, ice and then do physical therapy as instructed by the trainers, they have been really helpful with every injury,” shared Velazco.
Velazco, a business and economics major, has been playing tennis for years. “Tennis runs in my family, and my parents have bought my siblings and I rackets before we were even born,” she said. Tennis is a huge part of her life and she was eager to be able to continue playing after her injury. “This season I am really looking forward to being with my team and finally playing since I was not able to play at all last semester due to my shoulder injury.”
The Randolph Tennis team has 17 players all-together, ten men’s players and seven women’s players. They are eager to go out and show everyone what they have been preparing for this season. “With fifteen hard matches and a tournament coming up this spring, the team is looking to improve from last year and achieve their team goals,” said Velazco. So, bundle up and make sure you get out and support both men’s and women’s Tennis this spring!
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