Patric Hynes begins his seventh season as Lee University women's head tennis coach and admits there is plenty of excitement building around the Lee Tennis Center.

The NCAA and Lee administration allowed a fifth year due to the season being shortened because of COVID. "We don't have anyone taking a fifth year this year, but possibly in the future though. When the virus hit, we were halfway through our season. It was less than ideal, but so many other people have experienced much worse because of this pandemic. For us, it was important to keep things in perspective," said the head coach.

No key players lost: Hynes did not lose any key players from last season. He has senior Carley Sickinger, juniors Micaela Maiz and Lisa Kirr returning. Plus new recruit freshman Hayden Smith. "Hayden Smith, she is a super positive influence on her teammates and has fitted in great," noted Hynes. 

Team's strong points: "Just a great bunch of ladies to work with. I think our biggest strength is our experience. We have several players who have been at Lee for a few years now," explained the coach. 

Areas working to improve: "We are just trying to become consistent with our training habits and showing up with purpose every day," pointed out Hynes.
No predictions: The Lady Flames play in one of the nation's top conferences. Hynes said, "We just want to go out there and give a great account of ourselves. If we do that, the results will take care of themselves."

Upcoming schedule: "There are tough non-conference teams on the schedule this year. We are playing several teams within the state. There is going to be some tough matches that we are excited about," explained the coach. The Lady Flames host rival Tennessee Wesleyan on Feb. 4. They will travel to Greenville and face Tusculum on Feb. 12 before opening GSC play, hosting Shorter and West Florida. They return to the road for four non-conference matches before being pitted against the University of West Georgia on March 5.

Assistant Coach: "Jake Okines has done a fantastic job with our ladies. He is very clear and concise and our team has responded really well to him," remarked the head coach. 

Excited to get started: "We are excited to get matches started again! This team trained hard in the fall. It is rewarding to start playing matches again after such a long time since our last competitive contest," Hynes concluded.