Last season, if you attended a women's tennis practice, you may not have known what team was practicing. Pink shorts and tank tops were acceptable practice attire.
For practices this season, however, each player on the Penn State tennis team is required to wear the same gray Penn State shirt and blue shorts.
"I feel like a team should look like a team," first-year coach Dawna Prevette said. "That's part of me changing the culture coming in."
Prevette took over the team in August after former coach Buffy Baker resigned for personal reasons. Prevette led the team through a tough fall season, and since then, she has coached Penn State to a 1-4 record this spring. Her effect, however, is evident in many different areas.
"Intensity, she really kind of lays down the law," said senior Jenny Shular, who was coached by Baker for three years. "It's going to be her way. ... You have to figure out a way to do it her way."
The intensity even shows in the Nittany Lions' practice schedule. In addition to regularly scheduled practices, each player has mandatory individual practice sessions.
"Last year if you didn't want to come or you couldn't make it, you weren't forced to," sophomore Lauren McCarthy said.
The Lions have been working specifically on returns and serves lately, areas that Prevette felt were weak points for the team during its two recent losing road trips.
Shular also said that game preparation has changed this year with Prevette.
"We do more scouting this year than last year," Shular said.
"We really practice more of what kind of game plan is going to work against our opponent."
As Prevette prepares the team for this weekend's games, she has increased the conditioning the team has done in the past week -- although she's also tried to keep practices as fun and light as possible.
According to McCarthy, Prevette recently quoted Snoop Dogg at practice by saying, "Take it to the nizzle for shizzle."
"She actually has a sense of humor which is nice to see, and not be so serious all the time," McCarthy said.
