March 4, 2008
In the eighth edition of the Illini 2008 Blog, freshman Annie McCarthy updates you with the Illinois women's tennis team and how the squad has been staying on pace and having a little fun over the past two weeks.
Illinois will return to action this on Saturday, March 9, at 10 a.m. CT, 11 p.m. ET, against Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.
Okay, so as you're sitting at the computer most likely looking at an amazing photo of me and thinking to yourself, "Why in the world am I constantly stuck reading a blog by Annie?" Well to answer your question, it seems that somehow everyone else is either "too busy" or "not sure what to write". Therefore, they come to me, and being the nice person that I am, I can't turn them down. You were supposed to be honored with the wit of Marisa, but she is currently hard at work on a speech due tomorrow, but have no fear, she will be gracing the Internet waves with her words next week.
So here I am once more. Lucky for you we have not had matches the past two weeks, so I have acquired a good amount of sleep recently. Speaking of having two weeks without matches, that's what I am here to discuss. Over the past two weeks we have been working extremely hard despite our lack of matches. However, we have been incorporating a wee bit of fun into the mix.
Last Wednesday we were privileged to spend the second half of practice playing mixed doubles with the infamous Illinois men's tennis team. We were split into two teams with a rough session of sprints on the line for the losing team. Personally, I like to think that Ryan Rowe was fortunate to play with me. My back was killing me the next day since I carried him the whole time. With (Shivani) Dave, Michelle (Dasso), and of course me on team 1, it appeared that team 2 never even stood a chance.
Our next adventure fell on "Fun Friday". Split into teams of two, also conveniently paired with our doubles partners, we were given various tasks to earn points. From making a certain number of balls in the warm up, to how long we could hold planks, we brought our competitive spirits out quickly. Although Alejandra (Meza Cuadra) and I finished in dead last, I like to think we were just boosting our teammates' egos because we are such loyal friends.
Last weekend, the men's tennis team opened the Big Ten against Michigan State and then against non-conference opponent Notre Dame. In attendance, we realized just how eager we are to get our own Big Ten season rolling. Shivani was thrilled at the Notre Dame match to see another fellow Indian athlete on the men's tennis team and has perhaps even made a new friend.
All in all, it has been a very productive, very humorous two weeks; however I am very excited to start traveling again and I am sure you will be very excited to read all about it. This weekend we are traveling to Purdue, or as we like to call it "Purdon't", and hopefully we will be able to regale you with funny stories and a win!!
Until Next Time,
Annie McCarthy, GO ILLINI
