William C. Phillips III

A common bond between coach and players is the key to the SIU women’s tennis team’s success, according to one Saluki netter.

Melva McNeil, a senior in advertising from Carbondale, said the relationship among the players and the coach has a great affect on the team.

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Judy has the ability to remove herself from being a coach, McNeil said. Most coaches don’t realize the importance of being a coach as well as a friend to their players.

She said Auld’s coaching style is a prime example of experience and helps ease the tension.

It makes the players want to give the coach 100 percent in every measure, she said.

McNeil said the bond among the players has been strengthened because of the example set by the coach.

There is no dissension between the number one player and number six player, she said. We help each other mentally, physically and emotionally.She said Auld’s coaching styles demonstrate experience and it helps ease the tension.

It makes the players want to give the coach 100 percent in every measure, she said.

During last weekend’s conference matchup at Eastern Kentucky, McNeil had to step up and play the number five position because Molly Card, who usually plays at that position, was out with an ankle injury. McNeil won her last single match along with winning a double flight.

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McNeil said the hardest thing about stepping into the number five postition was keeping calm.

The toughest thing about playing at that position is that I had to get mentally prepared for it, she said. I get anxious and I don’t think about strategy I just hit the ball. In between change overs I would listen to my walkman and that allowed me to stay calm and focused.

Tennis is a mental game and a person can psyche themselves up to lose or win McNeil said.

Tennis is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical, she said. I found a niche that calms me down and helps me to remain focused. I’m going to continue to listen to my walkman during change overs.

McNeil said the tennis program at SIU is much stronger than the one she played under at Western Illinois University.

The training that goes into playing in the Missouri Valley Conference makes the athletes a lot more refined and we have a stronger support system, she said.

She said it is a benefit that the team has access to personal strength coach, Doug Salmon.

Doug takes into consideration all the muscles we use on the court and he helps us develope the muscles to make us a more powerful player, McNeil said. At Western we trained on our own without proper lifting instructions.

McNeil said she still has some areas to improve in from her performance in the fall.

I want to win more games than I did in the fall and become more consistent than I played at Western and have a high percentage in keeping the ball in play, she said. I want to become more aggressive in my strategic playing and have a large arsenal of shot selections.

She said she hopes to see everyone raise their game to another level and raise the winning percentage for all slots.

It’s up to everyone to pump themselves up as well as others but, tennis is more of an individual game, she said. If you’re not prepared mentally it doesn’t matter if someone talks to you until they are blue in the face.