Kate Hutchinson’s blog from the NCAA II Women’s Tennis Championship

Tusculum College junior Kate Hutchinson is blogging this week from Savannah, Georgia where the Pioneer women’s team is participating in the 2014 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.

Sunday, May 4, 2014 – 8:26 p.m. (EST)
Our morning started bright and early with a 7 a.m. wake up call. I didn’t want to get out of bed so early, and I accidentally rolled over onto Kealee Heffner’s head. We went down to breakfast and loaded up to leave at 8:15 a.m.. We arrived at the Bacon Park Tennis Complex around 8:45 a.m., which is 45 minutes before we were allowed to start warming up for our 10 a.m. match. Coach Arnett always likes being the first team there!

Armstrong Atlantic has one of the strongest teams I’ve ever played against. Although we didn’t come out on top, our team realized that we can play with anybody and how hard we need to work to get ready for next year! I am so proud of all the girls for leaving their hearts out on the court against the defending national champions.

After our match, Coach gave us 45 minutes to all get ready for the evening. All seven girls had to share 2 showers to get ready, and the hotel didn’t have any towels for us to use! It is short of a miracle that we were able to be ready in that amount of time. We went to the Oglethorpe Mall, and we chose this mall so Emily Waters could get Starbucks.

Coach took us to Outback after our shopping trip. We all said we weren’t hungry yet, but still ate almost all our food. We are headed back to the hotel now to enjoy the rest of the night in Savannah.

I am so proud of my girls, and I’m so proud to be a part of the Tusculum College Women’s Tennis team. The team has accomplished so many goals, and we will continue to set more goals and achieve those next year! Good night Pioneer Nation!

Saturday, May 3, 2014 – 9:47 p.m. (EST)
We started off this morning sitting on the curb outside of the Niswonger Commons for nearly an hour while we waited on our bus to arrive. The bus driver we were supposed to have was sick and did not want to spread his illness to us on our way to the NCAA Division II Women’s Tennis Regional in Savannah, Ga.

Once our bus arrived, we began our nearly six-and-a-half hour drive south. I began studying for my physiology class as soon as we left. My productiveness was short-lived, and I, along with many of my teammates, began to sleep the trip away.

We stopped in Spartanburg, S.C. for lunch at the mall so we had a variety of places to eat. Coach (Tommy Arnett) believes now that he can’t follow Kealee Heffner’s directions because she led us to the end of the mall opposite the food court. After getting back on the road, we got another nap in and arrived in Savannah. We got about an hour to shower and get ready for dinner once we checked into our hotel. Coach took us to the Cotton Exchange Tavern in downtown Savannah. Our food was insanely good!

Adrienne Kaye and I shared a pound of crab legs and didn’t have one to spare! As if we hadn’t eaten enough, we all walked down the street to an ice cream shop for dessert. On our way, we ran into a Forrest Gump impersonator and a Captain Jack Sparrow impersonator. Jack Sparrow was a little creepy, but Forrest Gump was totally believable. After walking around for a bit, we got back on the bus and went back to the hotel.

It’s time to rest up for the upset tomorrow! Sleep well Pioneer Nation and we’ll talk to you after our match with Armstrong. GO TC! Beat the Pirates.