Kasey Bacon is quickly making an impact on the women’s tennis team. She leads the team with seven singles wins, 4-3 in Big Sky Conference as a freshman.
While recognizing there is still room for great improvement, she is happy to see where she is now and she possesses great humility with it.
“I wasn’t really expecting to come out and do as well as I have so far,” she said. “But it’s awesome. It feels good to have a few wins so early so I know I have four more years of this to improve.”
Bacon, from Bountiful, Utah, started tennis “late” at the age of twelve. Idaho State assistant tennis coach Mark Rodel was her first coach. His presence at ISU plus the enticement of a full-ride scholarship made her decision to become a Bengal easy.
“Mark is an excellent coach and he was the one that started me out in tennis,” Bacon said.
Though she lost her first five matches, she has gone 7-4 to earn her team-leading 7-9 overall and 4-3 in conference record.
Bacon said learning to adjust to the collegiate environment was tough, such as the 6 a.m. workouts and late nights of studying. She added that players at this level hit the ball cleaner and more consistently. Over her short time here as a Bengal, she has learned to adjust in all those aspects and feels she is at her comfort level in playing her game.
“My nerves have gone away as I have more experience,” she said. “I had to learn that it is just you and your opponent on the court and that you have to learn to block out the crowd.”
Even with her rising success, Bacon is quick to compliment her teammates and credit them for their improvement. She and her fellow freshman doubles partner, Madelyn Weltzin, have a 5-5 overall record, 2-2 in conference.
She also loves the diversity on the team. Bacon and Weltzin are the only Americans on the squad while three others are from Germany and two are from Columbia.
“It is so cool to learn about their cultures and we hear them speak in their native languages,” she said.
Bacon continued to talk about her excitement with her team as they progress.
“Everyone on our team is a really hard worker,” Bacon said. “We all put in extra time outside of practice and in the gym. Next year is going to be a huge step up for us, just based on how hard we all work.”
Idaho State Tennis will travel to Montana and Montana State on April 20-21 to close out the season.
