Senior tenins player Catherine Newman talks about several different facets of her sport and how she gets ready for competition in her half of "He Said/She Said." Click here to read senior cross country runner James Kasten's.
Vanderbilt Hustler: How important is it to retain focus in a year-round sport?
Catherine Newman: With it being year-round, there really isn’t ever a break. You need to focus throughout the entire year, since there’s never really an offseason, which is both good and bad. There’s no time to relax, and you’re always looking at your tennis game.
VH: While individual success is important in your sport, what role does the team play?
CN: It’s definitely more important in a team setting. The dual season is so much more fun than the individual season because you are working for other people. I’d much rather play for others than play for myself. My focus is better in dual season, because I’m there thinking “I can’t let this teammate down, they’ve been working so hard.”
VH: As a senior, how would you sum up your four years at Vanderbilt?
CN: They’ve been great; I love it here and couldn’t have picked a better place to go. The coaches are great, and I’ve had really good experiences with them.
VH: How have you seen your sport’s program evolve over your career?
CN: My first two years, it was kind of been the same, and then last year we had a rocky year. This year, I definitely think we’re going to do a lot better.
VH: How important are agility and movement in your success?
CN: For me, it is incredibly important; I base my game a lot off of movement. I’m much more a retriever than an attacker most times, and for me, movement is key. It’s my No. 1 thing.
VH: What’s your pre-game routine?
CN: I have a set warm-up — we have to hit up the middle and take some volleys, then we have to go cross-court, and get serves and returns in. In the team season, we go through a “goals and positives” type thing, and the coach always comes in and speaks to us.
VH: What has been the most memorable venue you’ve played at?
CN: I’d have to say Georgia Tech my sophomore year; they’d won a national championship the year before. We were down 3-2, and one of our seniors was at one, and I was at two. We were both 1-1 in the third set, and we needed both matches. She went on to win her set, and it was down to me and I pulled it out. It was unbelievable, my parents were there and my sisters came.
