2008 Woodie Awards
Jennies ready to roll
Nick Schimmer
Issue date: 11/3/05 Section: Sports
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The Jennies are coming off a season in which they dropped the national championship game to the University of Nebraska. With consecutive second place finishes, the Jennies have set high goals for their 2006 campaign.
Head coach Ron Holmes said the outcome of this season will be determined by how a younger team is able to manage the pressure.
"Our primary goal is to get back to the national championship," Holmes said. "We have set some lofty goals but I don't know if we have enough experience to catch Nebraska."
Sophomore Bryanna Caldwell said getting back to last season's form can be accomplished in time.
"We want to take small steps to achieve our ultimate goal [of a national championship]," Caldwell said. "We need to play our own game, not get down, and take advantage of every situation we are in."
The Jennies kicked the season off on the right foot last weekend by finishing first in the Arkansas St. Lady Indians Invitational, posting a record of 10-0 over the two days of competition.
Holmes said the victory was very satisfying considering the level of competition.
"I was quite pleased with it being the first event of the season," Holmes said. "I was unsure how things might go. I didn't want us to be too anxious since we were playing some of the better teams in the region."
Caldwell points to a difference in experience this season that helped the Jennies in the tournament.
"I thought we performed very well last weekend," Caldwell said. "Our experience really came out as we learned from last year's mistakes.
"We have a higher maturity level this season and it helped to start the season off good."
The Jennies were led in scoring by junior Tina Peak. Peak averaged 213.71. Caldwell was close behind with a 209 and Sara Cox, the team's lone senior, finished with a 201.14.
Peak was also named tournament MVP, as her average was good enough for second place. Caldwell and Cox finished fifth and eighth, respectively.
The squad defeated North Carolina A&T in the championship match.
The Jennies improved over last year's performance in the same tournament, where they dropped five matches in route to a second place finish.
The Jennies will now set their sights on next weekend's tournament, as they travel north trying to make it two wins in a row.
Holmes said as long as the travel doesn't impact the teams performance, then the experience should be a valuable one. Many of the nation's top teams will be there, including Nebraska.
"We'll see several teams that finished near the top with us," Holmes said. "It will be good, tough competition to gauge ourselves against in the early part of the season."
Caldwell looks to the tournament as an opportunity for the team to improve on its already fast start.
"I expect us to do as well as we did in the last tournament," Caldwell said. "I think we will be able to work on some things that will make us better."