Athlete of the Week: Katie Frankel (Tennis)

Photo courtesy of Katie Frankel

This week I had the privilege to sit down with Katie Frankel. Frankel, a senior, was named as the Midwest Conference Women’s Tennis player of the week. The Women’s Tennis team swept three road matches at Knox College, Monmouth College and Illinois College. Frankel was a perfect 6-0 playing at the number one position in singles and doubles.

Shane Farrell: How do you feel you played in the sweep against Monmouth, Knox, and Illinois College?

Katie Frankel: I think I played solid tennis against Monmouth, Knox and Illinois College. All of the matches were a bit tricky because the players from these schools tend to not have much power, but are very good at running every ball down. So I had to try to be more consistent in the rallies, make my opponent play, but also stick to my strategy of being aggressive and taking my chances to come into the net and finish points.

SF: Has Coach Francour stressed a motto this year, like consistency?

KF: Consistency is always an important motto: you have to be willing to stay in points and allow your opponent to miss. Being patient in points is also important to remember, to let the point play out and to try not to go for too big of a shot too soon.

SF: What expectations are you putting on yourself for the rest of the season?

KF: I try not to put any expectations on myself and just take it one match at a time. For me, expectations lead to pressure, so it’s important for me to just play my best and try not to think so much about whether or not I’m expected to win a match.

SF: What goals are you trying to achieve as a team?

KF: Our main goal is to finish top four in conference this fall so that we can participate in the team conference tournament in the spring.

SF: Being only one of three seniors on the team, have you stepped up into more of a leadership role?

KF: I think being a senior on a team inherently puts you in a leadership role, especially since you have three years of experience to draw on. However, this is my second year as a captain of the team so as comfortable as I feel being a leader of the team, we are a small, tight-knit group, so there are hardly any decisions made solely by the seniors or the captains.

SF: Looking back what has been your favorite tennis memory, and what will you miss the most about Lawrence tennis?

KF: One of the best parts of season every year is preseason because the team gets to spend so much time together and just have fun playing tennis and gearing up for season. I will definitely miss my teammates the most—we have such a great group of girls and I’m so lucky to be able to call them my friends!