New courts mean more possibilities

This semester students shouldn’t have to wait their turn to play sand volleyball on campus. After summer construction, ULM has finished adding three more sand volleyball courts to make a grand total of five on campus.

ULM Sand Volleyball head coach Patrick Hiltz is very enthused with the new additions, saying that the students were the ones that got the ball rolling on adding three more courts.

“We approached the athletic administration, but ultimately it was the students and SGA that got it started and then we were able to find more money and get it done, ” said head coach Hiltz.

The new courts will make ULM a much more appealing destination for other schools to come play the Warhawks.

Normally, matches at ULM would take three hours to complete, which made it really hard for fans to come and and watch their favorite player. They usually could only stay for part of the match.

However, matches should only take about an hour to complete with multiple courts being used at the same time.

“Being undefeated on our own courts, it kind of got to the point where no one wanted to play us here and take three hours to get beat,“ said Hiltz.

Not only will time be a factor, but recruiting is also something Hiltz looks forward to.

Traveling to a whole different side of the world is hard, but traveling there without knowing what to expect out of your new lifestyle? That’s even harder.

Petra Horokova is an international student from Trnava, Slovakia. Having never been to the United States before, she didn’t really know what to expect besides the stereotypes she saw on TV.

The tennis team recruited Horokova to come play for ULM in the spring of 2013. Since coming to Monroe, she has time and time again proved that she is a major threat to her opponents.

In her freshmen season alone she tallied 16 total victories in singles. The following year she became even more lethal, recording a 13-2 record to set the bar for the rest of the team.

She was named to the 2015 All-Sun Belt Conference First Team in both singles and doubles. However, Horokova can’t give all the credit to herself. Her assistant coach R.J. Nagel has helped developed her as a tennis player and was a great help during her rehabilitation last season.

“He’s a really big support for me, if it was not for him I’m not sure I would still be here,” says Horokova.

Looking ahead to this upcoming season, Horokova will be the veteran on the team amongst younger players. The newcomers on the tennis team this season are also from other countries near Slovakia, so Horokova will be able to relate to their new adventures state side.

“The new recruit from Poland will be close to me because I can speak Polish. I am also one third Polish and have Polish grandparents, so it will be awesome,” said Horokova.

Looking back on her time here at ULM, Horokova has had a lot of hardship she’s faced. However, she’s glad she never transferred or even went back home when the idea was suggested to her.

“I really fell in love with the Warhawk Nest here, and I felt a lot of support from the people around me.“

Horokova is set to graduate this December, but still has eligibility through May 2017 and will finish up her collegiate tennis career then.