Coaches always hope their players find ways to work on their games and improve in the offseason.
For tennis players, that often means finding time to get back on the court for some individual work with their coaches or teammates, and hopefully being able to find a good, competitive tournament to keep ready for the time the season gets underway again.
The Charleston Public Courts tournament has been a perfect thing for just that for several players from both West Virginia State and the University of Charleston, with players from each team participating in the tournament and looking to make a run at a championship.
"This is a great offseason tournament for them because the competition is really good, but it's also different from college matches," West Virginia State coach John Simms said. "This is a totally different animal and it gives them a great experience in a different atmosphere."
West Virginia State's women's tennis team has been on a roll the last few years, emerging as one of the best teams in the region and a consistent favorite to win the Mountain East Conference. A big reason for that success in the past has been because of two of the players in this year's tournament - former player Brittany Franco and current Yellow Jacket Laura Isbey. Franco was the MEC's Player of the Year two years ago before Isbey took that honor last season as she helped West Virginia State to a conference title in the regular season.
With those two, as well as incoming freshman Sydney Miller, who was a standout at Winfield High School and has a bright future at WVSU, it's almost like Simms is getting to watch the past, present and future of West Virginia State tennis.
"Laura and Brittany have been a big reason for our success these last few years," Simms said. "Championships are always won in the offseason when the kids put the work in themselves, and that's the common thing with all three of these girls - they all have a tremendous work ethic and that carries over through the whole team, and it's why we believe our future is bright."
Isbey and Miller faced each other in the quarterfinals of the women's open singles, with the rising junior winning in two sets.
Though the two had gone up against each other before as they train for next season, Isbey admitted it was different facing a teammate in a tournament setting like this. She is hoping to get to take on Franco in the open championship and set up a tough matchup against the reigning champion from last year.
"This is the first time I've played in a tournament in a while, so it's been good preparation and good match experience," Isbey said. "It was weird playing Sydney because she's going to be on our team and I didn't really know how to go about it, but we've played in practice and she does a good job.
"Overall it's been good and I'm excited to play the rest of my matches."
On the men's side, UC is represented by a handful of players, as well as coach Matt Santen.
Among those playing in the tournament for the Golden Eagles are Dom Centofanti, Alec Foote, Jason Prince and Elliot Le Petit - along with a handful of other current and former players. Foote and Centofanti were Charleston's No. 1 and 4 singles players last season and made up its No. 1 doubles team when the Golden Eagles made a run to the Mountain East Conference tournament championship before falling short of an NCAA championships bid with a loss to West Virginia Wesleyan.
While Centofanti and Foote have graduated, the tournament is a valuable experience for players like Prince and Le Petit as they look to get better and be ready for this season.
"This is a good opportunity for them to stay sharp and for a lot of them to go up against a different caliber of player," Santen said. "Then for me, as a coach, it's great to see the current and former players come together out here. It's almost like a reunion. There are a lot of people in the draw who have those connections and it's special to see that."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.