With six outdoor and four indoor courts, tennis is available year round at Principia. Our “non-traditional” season runs five weeks in the fall for those players not participating in another varsity sport. Fall is a great time to train fundamentals, speed, and strength. The opportunity to play several competitions is also available. Top players with regional ranking potential will get the opportunity to participate in the Fall Regional ITA Singles and Doubles tournament.

Winter quarter we solidify the team roster and build towards match play. A third of our competition takes place during the winter as teams happily travel to Principia to play at Hexberg Tennis Center, our indoor facility. Players get ten days off during final exams and the first week of spring break. The team reunites the second week of spring break in Hilton Head Island, SC for training and competition. This is a great opportunity to play schools from out of our region. Also with no outside commitments, this is a time to focus solely on tennis and the team in preparation for the final push towards the conference championship.

Upon returning to campus after our trip, we work to maintain our focus amid the daily commitments of the academic quarter. We play most of our conference teams as well as other local schools. While our 20 playing date schedule is spread throughout the year, the four to five weeks of spring quarter is challenging due to more travel in a condensed time period. While missed classes are kept to a minimum, travel time is consuming and players are required to be organized and responsible in maintaining their academics.

The conference championship takes place the third weekend of April. Beginning in 2007, teams winning the conference championship will receive an automatic bid for the NCAA Division III Championship Regional Playoffs. That is our goal!