The Mississippi State women’s tennis team plays its last match of the season Saturday, taking on Mississippi at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Saturday is Senior Day for the Lady Bulldogs’ three seniors, Justyna Switala, Marcelle Hirt, and Yumi Ueda.
State dropped both its matches this weekend which included a 7-0 loss to No. 2 Florida and a heartbreaking 4-3 defeat to No. 33 South Carolina. The Lady Bulldogs will try to rebound and finish their season on a strong note.
“We fought harder than I’ve seen us fight all year,” said MSU head coach Tracy Lane on her team’s match against South Carolina. “We’re fighting right now to try and cause some upsets.”
For the seniors, a win over rival Mississippi would provide a bright spot for a disappointing regular season and possibly give them momentum heading into the SEC Tournament in Nashville.
“These seniors are hard-workers and set good examples on and off the court,” Lane said, adding, “I know they would’ve liked to have done better this year, but they’re fighting hard and that’s all you can ask from your players.”
Unlike most college students, who have to adjust to a new city or, possibly, a new state, these seniors have each had to make the adjustment to living in a different country.
“The adjustment was really hard at first,” said Hirt, who hails from Brazil. “I couldn’t speak English very well and the culture is much different.”
Switala, a native of Poland, commented on the difficulty of understanding professors who speak a language foreign to one’s own.
“English is not our native language. So, at the beginning it was very hard to understand teachers, coaches, and even teammates,” Switala said. “But the people here are so kind, and everyone really made an effort to help.”
Despite the difficulty adjusting to a new culture, each of the seniors embraces their time at MSU and is thankful for all their memorable experiences.
“I’ve had a really great experience here,” says Ueda, originally from Japan came to State as a true freshman after living in Canada. “Everyone here is so nice and polite. They’ve really made me feel comfortable here.”
Ueda will graduate in December with a degree in microbiology and a minor in kinesiology and plans to apply for physical therapy school. She hopes to remain in the athletic field and work as a physical therapist.
Hirt will graduate in the summer and will travel to Texas for an internship at a tennis academy. Eventually, she hopes to have her own tennis academy in Brazil.
Switala will graduate in December and plans on getting her master’s degree. She plans on staying in the United States for work experience and would then like to return to Europe.