By Paige Smith

The LRU women’s tennis team ended its 57-game losing streak with a road victory over Thiel College, an hour and a half away. Team Captain Teresa “T” Munoz Torrado led the team to victory.  

She was the captain of her teammates: Danielle Dominick, Shannon Jenkins, Kathryn Strang, Finley Hohn, Klover Haberthier, and Brianna Wynn.  

The Women’s Tennis Program went five long years without bringing home a victory. Over the years, a lot of people came and went from the program.  

For the first time in some seasons, these women were able to train twice a week. The tennis team saw many accomplishments throughout the season, but the greatest one was this:  

The team always had a fixed six players for each game. No scrambling for players at the last minute.  

The season came down to the final match.  

 Earning respect from rival teams with sharpened skills, the LRU tennis team walked into Thiel’s emotional senior night, honoring the late Toby Atwood and the other three seniors. They then locked in with a focused pre-match warmup. 

LRU struck early, winning two of three doubles matches. T and Danielle took #1 doubles, while Finley and Klover took #2 doubles. 

In her final season, T won No.1 singles and sparked her teammates’ momentum. 

Starting to play tennis at a young age, quitting to play more sports, and then rediscovering the love of tennis. This describes the starting tennis journey for Teresa “T” Munoz Torrado. 

“I do not know if it is considered competitive, but I played in my country club league for a couple of years,” Teresa said. During this time, she mentioned having those practices twice a week, as well as practicing with friends over the summer.  

A multi-sport athlete at LRU, her athletic career here started with women’s soccer. “I started playing tennis at LRU in the spring semester of my freshman year,” T stated.  

“I became the captain of the team in my junior year,” she continued. As captain, one of her responsibilities was to keep her teammates motivated. Throughout the seasons, she aimed for her teammates to have fun overall.  

With the team having new players joining the past two seasons, she mentioned that those players had to have no worries about feeling less than, simply because they were new. “I have always believed that words of affirmation, encouragement, and honesty are the best ways to keep players motivated,” T explained.  

Continuing to elaborate on herself, it is noted that she claims that she’s a loud and energetic person, which helped everyone adapt nicely.  

Key moments played huge roles in that final win of the season, and T is a part of the reason the girls pulled through.  

“I think the meeting I planned the day before was the reason the players felt excited about the game. I encourage everyone to believe that we could win,” Teresa exclaimed. Even though it was their last game of the season, T noted that her girls remembered that it was still just as important.  

“I also had an open conversation with everyone about their strengths and weaknesses in the game, which made the players focus more on how to be better,” Teresa continued. It was apparent that even in the last game, the strengths of each player prevailed to help secure the win.  

This win for Teresa as a senior was an amazing acknowledgement. She also recognized how huge an accomplishment this was for her teammates, and she remarked how proud she was of each one of them.  

“This win was very important for me as I wasn’t having the best season individually, but this win made me realize that despite the outcome not being what you want, you need to enjoy the process, and that’s what I did,” T said. She also remarked that taking this mindset and winning was a highlight of her career as a LRU women’s tennis player.  

The whole team worked hard all season to get to this point; each player won their singles match. “The fact that in singles all of our players won their matches is an insane accomplishment, especially because half of them never played before,” Teresa exclaimed.  

She noted that tennis is not only a challenging sport physically, but also mentally. “In addition, everyone’s level has improved considerably since the beginning of the season, and that’s what I’m most proud of,” she continued.  

To end the season, Teresa is hopeful that this win sends a message to the future players of LRU women’s tennis as she leaves. She first wants to note that her players should never give up. 

 “Despite not having an actual coach, courts on campus, or some resources, we were able to make an impact and write our own story,” T started to tell, “No matter how hard the game is, always give the best you can, because that’s what’s going to make you perform better in every aspect of life,” she continued,  

“But most importantly, have fun and enjoy the sport,” Teresa “T” Munoz Torrado finished her story. 

The La Roche University Women’s tennis team is hopeful to have another successful season coming up in 2026.