Men’s and Women’s tennis with winning records as they move forward with the season, prepare for the loss of senior leadership and addition of new recruits
Tennis offers a unique student-athlete experience for MC’s players. The men and women have separate teams, but they practice and travel together, adding to the intimacy between the teams and the support among players.
“They practice together most of the time,” said Head Coach Doug Corbett. “Logistically speaking, once our women’s roster gets a little bigger, it’ll be harder to do that.”
“I feel like we’ve always been very close with each other. We have more players on the team, but everyone has a part,” said James Smith (‘26), adding that the team always has fun together.
The teams just hosted their second home match and secured their first conference win, said Smith – who received the CCS Player of the Week honor on March 4. Both teams also have winning records so far this season.
Corbett explained that these athletes put in hard work all year. In the off-season, they have five days of practice, which they cut back during the season, with only three practices each week, allowing time for about two matches and their two rest days. Practices vary as Corbett gauges what skills different players need to be working on.
“We have certain days that are just singles, just doubles or practice matches,” said Smith. “Singles days will start with a bunch of drills – Coach Doug asks everyone what they want to work on. We all have our different intel. [It’s the] same with doubles – we’ve been working a lot at the net and putting away volleys.”
As Smith mentioned, the intricacies of tennis also include the change from a doubles to singles match. This is echoed by Calli Kondolios (‘28), who said that she prefers doubles to singles, but plays better in singles matches. Her doubles partner is Elizabeth Shwaiko (‘25).
Kondolios earned “Rookie of the Week” in CCS honors on March 4, followed by the team earning “Doubles Team of the Week” on March 18. Another MC women’s doubles team, Alyssa Smith (‘26) and Abby Diggs (‘25), also earned this doubles honor on March 4.
“Early in the season, it’s trial by error, figuring out what partnerships work well and what styles of play work well. By later in the season, we are figured out,” said Corbett, addressing the complexities of doubles play.
Of course, every player has a different relationship and story with their doubles partner. However the “doubles stories” of Smith and Kondolios are very similar.
“Luka came in this semester, and right away he just felt so comfortable with us,” said Smith, talking about his doubles partner Luka Romano (‘28). “Doug suggested we play doubles, and we clicked right away. We won our first match together, and we’ve had a great season so far.”
For Kondolios, she is the newcomer, being paired up with a senior.
“Coach Doug and Jenna saw that me and [Shwaiko] played great together, and we did really amazing in the fall season,” said Kondolios. “We paired up in the fall and rolled with it. She’s able to bring me out of my nervousness.”
Kondolios said that one of her biggest challenges this year as she entered collegiate tennis was her mentality. She said that one helpful thing was her coach saying that it should be fun above all else. With a doubles partner that high fives after every point, a supportive team and a coach who encourages her love for the sport over winning, Kondolios has made great strides in her game, now sporting a 6-3 singles record.
She also said that she will dearly miss Shwaiko, adding that “she’s the voice of the girls’ team. She makes everybody happy, she brings out jokes, and I see her as a big sister.”
Graduation is around the corner, and the loss of strong senior leadership on the team will change the dynamics. Corbett is in his fourth year with Maryville College, meaning that the seniors are his first graduating class since he started coaching – including his first recruit, Ben Wyrick (‘25).
“The two women’s seniors have been the glue that has held the girls team together. We have had challenges with retention of some players,” Corbett said, but despite some adversities, Shwaiko and Abby Diggs (‘25) specifically have been essential to the MC women’s team.
“The men’s team only has two seniors out of eleven, so we are returning most of the team,” said Corbett. However, “on the women’s side, we have two that are officially seniors, but a third who is graduating in the fall.”
With a small team of only seven players, this means that only four will be returning, but five new recruits are joining the women’s team next year. Kondolios said she cannot wait to help them get oriented on campus, get to know them better, and be a big sister to them in the way that Shwaiko and others have been to her.
The 2025-2026 season will continue to compete in the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS), but then the switch will be made to the new athletic conference – the Southern Athletic Association (SAA).
“The SAA is on a whole different level,” said Smith. “There are so many teams that are ranked, and even though the level is increasing, it doesn’t mean we won’t do well. We still have the fight in us to show teams who we really are.”
The final conference tournament this season is April 24-26 in Chattanooga. Go Scots!