DePaul women’s tennis  returned to action last week and has one big goal: make the NCAA tournament.

After making it to the NCAA tournament in the 2014-15 season, they came up one game short last year.  Head coach Mark Ardizzone thought that the team got a little too happy with its great 2014-15 season.

“I think we got a little satisfied and for a lot of years we had a chip on our shoulders, kind of always trying to prove ourselves and I think last year we maybe got a little satisfied at times,” Ardizzone said.  “We suffered through a lot of injuries and stuff like that but still, we were right there, you know, one step away, but I think that hunger’s got to come back again.”

The coach acted on what he observed and made a way for the team to get that fight back.

“What I did was I made the schedule a lot harder this year, a lot harder.  Because, one, I wanted us to take a few losses here and there and…to let us be hungrier so we can get there (to the tournament),” Ardizzone said.

The schedule is hard.  DePaul, coming off two convincing wins against Valparaiso and Harvard, travels to Gainesville, Fla. to take on the No. 1 ranked Gators.  This is DePaul’s first time facing a number one seed, but Adrizzone believes the competition will be great for the team later in the year.

“I think it’s going to be great because after Saturday, we’re not going to look across and see any one better, they are a juggernaut, they are the real deal,” Ardizzone said. “They are ranked number one and they even brought in a player in January who’s moved everyone else down a spot…I think that will be a good test and hopefully we’ll compete with them”

Ardizzone’s teams have continued to excel not only in the world of tennis, but also off the court. Last season was the ninth consecutive year that the team was on the ITA-All Academic Team.  Every player also garnered a spot on the Big East All-Academic team.  Adrizzone believes that success on both is because of a particular trait that will undoubtedly come in handy against Florida.

“I think what it is, is it shows that they are very task oriented.  It’s very funny, over the years, when I give them a grade after a tennis match, they’re upset if they get a “B”, you know? And so I figured that out a litte bit,” Ardizzone said. “They are extremely organized, they manage their time. They know when they have to study more they gotta go out and study more, go to the library all night and do that.  Sometimes you gotta do that on the court too.”

The coach believes another thing that will help him out this year is the team’s togetherness.  The team features two students from each grade level, although one junior, Keisha Clousing, is a transfer. Adrizzone also counted senior Ana Vladutu as a new player, after she sat out most of the season last year due to a knee injury.  Nevertheless, he thought that the diversity provided help for all, himself included.

“The experience is there and our older girls know what they’ve been going through.   Really it makes life easier on a coach, you don’t have to go and recruit like coach Brothers (men’s tennis coach), had to go and bring in (6) new kids this year and that’s a lot of stress…so from a recruiting standpoint down the road, it’s really nice and it also does give you that leadership.”