{"id":5684,"date":"2022-12-05T12:17:53","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T18:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/?p=5684"},"modified":"2022-12-05T12:17:53","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T18:17:53","slug":"injuries-plague-cuc-tennis-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/?p=5684","title":{"rendered":"Injuries Plague CUC Women’s Tennis, But International Student Boosts Wins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The CUC women’s tennis program wrapped up a disappointing Fall schedule with key players injured, but a French international graduate student emerged as a standout athlete in the team’s second season since the sport returned in the fall of 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

CUC hired Lenno Lasn in April 2021 to coach both men’s and women’s tennis. Prior to this, Curtis Allen coached the women’s team during the 2019 season, but Allen left CUC the following year when the COVID-19 pandemic and difficulty acquiring recruits led to the team’s disbandment. <\/span><\/p>\n

This year, the CUC women\u2019s tennis team went 2-12 on the season, with individual players earning a win-loss record of 24-58. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have wins, necessarily, but I did feel like we got better,” <\/span>said Lasn, who is the first full-time head coach for the tennis program in 25 years<\/span>. “Certain players had wins, so we definitely went in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Half of the nine women on the team were injured at some point throughout the season. “<\/span>If we could have had our main lineup out, I think we could have won more matches,” said Lasn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Graduate student Heidi Hesse proved to be a strong force for the Cougars. Hesse went 11-3 on the season overall, and 6-3 in conference competition. She was the number one female singles player for the CUC team and was named the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) player of the week during the first week of September. The NACC also included her on the First Team All-Conference on November 23.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hesse grew up in France, and earned her bachelor’s degree in sports management from AMOS Sport Business School after studying in France, Great Britain, Spain, and South Korea. She picked up tennis when she was 15 years old, during her second year of high school in France. <\/span>\u201cMy father used to play tennis when he was younger, and that encouraged me to try, and I liked it,\u201d said Hesse.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the start of her career, Hesse most often played on her own, as she was the only girl at her tennis club. Eventually, she found another female friend from her high school who wanted to play. \u201cWe played after school every day, and we progressed alone,\u201d Hesse said. As Hesse continued to gain experience and skill, she found better coaches and got involved in more competitive matches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with furthering her international education, Hesse came to the United States to continue her tennis career. Tennis has been one avenue that has connected Hesse to fellow CUC students and to American sports culture.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As she completes her master\u2019s degree in sports business, Hesse feels drawn toward the enthusiasm for sports in the United States. \u201cTo see and participate in sports events and supporting teams here is huge, and I love it,\u201d said Hesse. \u201cFinishing my master\u2019s degree here was the perfect opportunity to experience that sports environment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tennis has taught Hesse both physical and mental discipline. \u201cI have learned to be more patient and mentally strong,\u201d said Hesse. \u201cI get to learn from mistakes, accept losing, and enjoy winning.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The mental toughness involved in tennis is one of Lasn\u2019s favorite parts of the sport as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go on the court, you have to problem-solve yourself,” said Lasn. “You ask yourself, \u2018What\u2019s not going right? What can I fix and how can I fix it? How can I take the next step and how can I do better?\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a player, Lasn loved the personal fight for the win. \u201cEspecially in tennis, there is no time clock, and anything can change, even if the other person is at match point,” said Lasn. In his office, Lasn displays the motto: “Don\u2019t give up and act like you\u2019ve been there before.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lasn emphasizes the importance of team, even though competition in tennis occurs as an individual. \u201cOne thing I always say during practice is, \u2018This is like family,\u2019\u201d said Lasn. \u201cI don\u2019t care if you necessarily hang out outside of this, but when you get on the court, everybody has to have each other\u2019s back.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lasn looks forward to future seasons coaching the CUC women’s tennis team. His hope is for a season where players experience fewer injuries in order to put out his best lineup and bring in more wins for the Cougars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CUC women’s tennis program wrapped up a disappointing Fall schedule with key players injured, but a French international graduate student emerged as a standout athlete in the team’s second season since the sport returned in the fall of 2021. CUC hired Lenno Lasn in April 2021 to coach both men’s and women’s tennis. Prior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":5690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-showcase","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5684\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}