HUSTON

The women’s tennis team has one returning senior player on their roster this season.

Emily Huston, senior athletic training major, has been with the team all four seasons, and her leadership and experience will be valuable assets this season.

“I’m comfortable both at the net and at the base line,” Huston said. “I am more confident in my abilities than I have ever been.”

Huston started playing tennis as a freshman at Olathe Northwest High School. She won many accolades including All Johnson County Team twice and All-City team three times. She also led Olathe Northwest to three separate class 6A tournament appearances, including the school’s first win at the state tournament her senior year.

With all of her success in high school, she had many different opportunities to play tennis at the collegiate level. Fort Hays State, Nebraska-Omaha and Missouri University in Kansas City all pursued Huston, but in the end, she chose Emporia State due to her interest in athletic training and the coaching staff.

“I really liked the coaches here at Emporia State,” Huston said. “ESU was also willing to allow me to do both tennis and athletic training.”

Huston is taking a leadership role on the court. Being the lone senior, she offers advice, encouragement and guidance.

“Emily has been a great leader so far this season,” said Jenny Gethardt, freshman elementary education major. “She is a role model both on and off of the court.”

Huston is not only a vocal leader, but she also leads by example with her success on the tennis court. As a freshman, she was an All-MIAA player in singles and All-MIAA player in doubles as a sophomore.

But last year, she suffered a season ending injury.

“I had a really tough year dealing with the injury,” Huston said. “It put a lot of things into perspective for me. I also learned a lot about being mentally tough and mentally prepared for anything.”

As a singles player, Huston said she believes this season will go smoothly and hopes to accomplish many goals. She also said she hopes to play well with her doubles partner, sophomore biology pre-vet major Abby Morris.

“The experience she has as a college athlete definitely helps considering we are a pretty young team,” Morris said. “Emily is positive and encouraging.”

Morris said she enjoys playing with Huston because she is a “solid player and is driven on the court.” Morris said Huston is also very motivated.

“This is our first year together as a doubles team, but we work really well together,” Huston said. “We complement each other very well and we have a lot of potential.”

Huston said she looks forward to taking advantage of her senior season and hopes to end her collegiate career on a high note.

Chelsie Slaughter

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Schoon

Emporia State tennis’ Kevin Schoon knows how to be successful in more ways than one. The Winfield native is a biochemistry and molecular biology major, the men’s team captain and the #1 player on the team.

John Cayton, head coach of the men’s tennis team, believes Schoon’s mental abilities transcend just the classroom.

“Kevin’s always been a very, very smart player,” Cayton said. “He plays well with his mind, and he’s always been somebody that plays high percentage.”

Schoon’s a proven leader of the team, although he’s not a very vocal person.

“I’m team captain and I feel like I’ve done a good job at that,” Schoon said. “I’m really not the most vocal leader, but I try to lead more by example in playing hard and just being really motivating to the other guys.”

Fellow senior team member Spencer Pozek has seen first hand Schoon’s impact on the squad.

“He’s a good teammate,” Pozek said. “He always gives his best effort. He’s definitely a quiet guy, but the underclassmen follow him – not by what he says, but the way he acts.

He never gets real fired up,” Pozek said. “That probably why he he’s been so successful because he’s real even keel. In tennis, you have to be able to stay on a steady plain, and not go up and down.”

It’s not only Schoon’s leadership qualities that have been noticed. Last year, coaches around the MIAA honored him with the Sportsmanship Award.

“It meant a lot knowing that they (MIAA coaches) think highly of me,” Schoon said. “I try to be a good sport, so it’s really nice that people notice that.”

Along with excellent sportsmanship and a soft-spoken leadership style, Schoon brings to the table a complimentary skill set.

“One of the things Kevin has developed is some weapons,” Cayton said. “His forehand has become a very big weapon. His serve has become more of a weapon… the thing that he does very well…is he moves forward and finishes points at net very well.”

Consistency has been a word closely associated with Schoon since he came to Emporia State four years ago.

“I think it’s really important for me to just try to do what I know I can do and not try to do more, and that’s being really consistent,” Schoon said. “A lot of times it does frustrate other players who want to end the point quickly.”

Cayton realized Schoon’s value and potential from an early stage.

“He’s extremely valuable because, a guy like Kevin, you can put him out there at whatever position and you know he will compete and perform for you day in, day out,” Cayton said. “He’s been a very, very consistent performer, somebody that’s not going to make a lot of mistakes.”

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Tennis: Season closer

The Emporia State men’s and women’s tennis seasons came to a close last Saturday, falling to Truman at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo. in the MIAA Tournament. The men lost 5-3 in their second straight appearance in the NCAA tournament and the women fell 5-1 in their fourth straight appearance.

The men’s team went 8-8 overall, 1-4 in the MIAA, 1-3 in the region and 3-1 at home.

The women’s team went 9-8 overall, 3-5 in the MIAA, 1-4 in the region and 4-1 at home.

Head Coach John Cayton and his current ESU players will host their fourth annual tennis camp presented by Wilson Racket Sports where players ages 8-18 will participate in a five day camp from June 22-26. Players will be staying in the ESU residence halls overnight and full-day campers will dine in the Lakeview Cafeteria.

Baseball on the road

The Emporia State baseball team went one and three on the road against Missouri Southern, winning the first game 5-2 and losing the last two games 11-12 and 7-11.

In game one, ESU was tied with MSSU 2-2 until the top of the eighth inning when catcher Mike Sharp hit a single to right center field to score two runners. Outfielder Caleb Williamson scored one more run with a fly ball out to right field.

In game two, the Hornets were ahead 11-3 in the seven inning game, until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Lions hit nine runs to take the lead.

Pitcher Diego Soto earned the loss in game two and is now 5-2 on the season.

In game three, ESU was down 11-2 until the top of the ninth inning where they made scored five runs but were unable to complete the comeback.

Pitcher Ben Graham lost his third game of the season, throwing 3.2 innings in game three.

The Hornets are now 39-9 overall and 25-6 in the MIAA and are looking to take the league title.

ESU will host their last regular season match up at home against Southwest Baptist.

Game one of the doubleheader will start at 4 p.m. May 1-2 at Trusler Complex.

Provisional Track Qualifiers

The Emporia State track team had five provisionally qualifying marks at the Sooner Invitational in Norman, Okla.

Connie Philips placed second and provisionally qualified with a 140-7 mark in the women’s javelin. Jaclyn Sill ranked fourth in this season’s Division II charts in the women’s 400m with a time of 55.77.

Sam Williams provisionally qualified individually in the 100m with a time of 10.59 and qualified in the 200m with a time of 21.23. William, Derwin Hall, Josh Schuler and Kenton Lonberger are all qualifiers in the 400m relay.

The Hornets competed yesterday and continue competition today in the MIAA Championships in Maryville, Mo. Brooke Kent, Justine Davenport and Kaylea Goff are performing for the women while Tony Granillo and Cole Davis are performing for the men.

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Kristen Ford, sophomore biochemistry and molecular biology major, practices her backhand Wednesday afternoon on the Milton Tennis Courts. The ESU women’s tennis team starts their season against Friends University Feb. 28 in Wichita, KS./PHOTO BY KELLEN JENKINS

With a new season comes new beginnings as the Emporia State men’s and women’s tennis teams prepare for the first meet of the season Feb. 28 at Friends University in Wichita.

On the men’s side, the team has several new players but still has veterans to lead the way for the younger players.

“We have three players from last year and a bunch of new players but I think we will have a pretty strong line up all the way through,” said Marti Eidson, graduate assistant tennis coach. “One of our returners is the captain this year so he is leading the team in that way. They are all leaders of the team in what aspect you look at and they all help the team and push each other.”

On the women’s side, rebuilding is a main focus during training and matches.

“We have a couple of transfers coming in but we do not have the depth we have had in the past,” Eidson said. “We have two returning players who have been working hard and are leading the team at the top of the lineup and they are pushing other girls to get better.”

Since both teams have new players, creating bonds and becoming a team is a large part of being successful.

“We are finding doubles partners that fit well together and just keep building the team chemistry throughout the year,” Eidson said.

With more experience, older players know better what to expect and how to prepare for future competition.

“Since it is my junior year, (my goal) for myself is to just keep on improving,” said junior Kevin Schoon. “After three years you could say it gets old but all lot of it is to just keep working hard and going out there and doing what you can do.”

According to Schoon, the teams practice outside when the weather allows. If not, they train at the HPER Building in one of the downstairs gymnasiums.

“So far a lot of it has been conditioning and foot work because if you are in the right position you can hit the right balls and usually they will go in,” Schoon said.

Though the season has not started yet, according to Eidson, both teams have already competed in an alumni match in Prairie, Kan. to get more match experience.

“We just want to compete well, come out of every match winning two of three doubles and just playing lots of matches and staying healthy,” Eidson said.

Doug Irby/The Bulletin

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