GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport Women's Tennis team is currently ranked No. 25 in the country and heading into a pair of critical WHAC matches, we sat down with head coach Patrick Grashorn and senior Stephanie Fortney to get an inside look at the program.

Senior Stephanie Fortney

How has this team come together to be such a strong team heading into conference play?

The team has come together by becoming friends outside of practices and matches.  We are all friends and we all hang out as friends.  This is the key to a good team.  Also, we all mesh as a team.  The doubles teams are all new and we are fortunate enough to bond very quickly.  We are ready for conference!
 
What does the national ranking mean for you at this point of the season?

The national ranking is important because Davenport Tennis is new.  It shows how far we have come and how good we are as a team.  It is a confidence boost for all of us because other teams do not have high expectations for us.  We are always the underdog.  This is a benefit for us because then we go out with our heads held high!

Head coach Patrick Grashorn

On team chemistry:

We had some changes take place between the fall and now which have affected the lineup, especially doubles. We had to discover new pairings which has a lot to do with chemistry. As a team, the girls get along well which has made it much easier to experiment with different doubles partners. 

On a team leader:

As the team captain, Stevie has been great in taking on a leadership role. She's not the "in your face" type of leader but rather cool and calm and the girls respond well to her. Not to take anything away from Stevie but truthfully the girls are all pretty responsible in doing what they need to do individually to see our team goals through.