Guay, Vanden set to lead State College tennis team this season

After a drill toward the end of a preseason practice, State College girls’ tennis coach Jane Borden gathered her players in a circle.

The coach reviewed the previous drill and stressed the mental aspect of the game to her players. They’ll have to think about different situations in their singles and doubles matches this year, and Borden wants her team to be prepared.

She’ll continue to talk about the topic throughout the season.

“I’ll often ask them how they’re feeling, what they’re thinking, so that we can help them process their emotions or what’s going on in their thought process,” Borden said.

After going 9-7 last season, the Lady Little Lions have a young group in 2016. State College returns top singles players Kelly Vanden and Laura Guay, but the roster is filled with freshmen and sophomores.

Borden said the coaching staff will be patient with the young group. She said she’ll take it step by step, teaching them how to warm up to be ready for a match in addition to teaching them how to play the game.

That includes preparing them mentally.

To do that, Borden talks about the mental aspect of the game, but she also asks players to keep journals and set goals.

And not just for this season.

“If you’re a freshman or a sophomore, what are your goals for when you’re a junior or a senior and how are you going to work toward achieving them?” Borden said. “How can we as coaches help you?”

Two years ago, Guay was a sophomore writing down her goals.

She looked at the list before every match. Now, going into her senior year, she’s focused on developing into a consistent player.

And she understands the mental part of the game.

“Even though I might not write it down, I definitely have things that I go over in my head watching the other girl warm up,” said Guay, a team captain.

Vanden is going into her sophomore year.

She learned how to manage her emotions during her first varsity season.

“I would be too hard on myself, take everything so seriously,” Vanden said. “… I think things go a lot better when you’re just out there to have fun and don’t really think about it too much.”

That’s the approach Borden teaches her players.

She wants them to be relaxed and confident on the court.

But she knows it will be a learning experience for her young players this season.

“They’re going to have to build steppingstones every single match because a lot of them haven’t played before, so they’re going to have to learn and process,” Borden said. “… We’ll see how they handle it.”

With that in mind, Borden didn’t talk about team goals at the start of preseason.

She didn’t want her players to think too far ahead.

“Right now we’ve had to address so many simple, basic issues,” Borden said after that preseason practice. “But they know the tradition of State High tennis.”

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 12:26 AM with the headline "Guay, Vanden set to lead State College tennis team this season."