North Texas Daily

In their first season as a doubles team, senior Lucie Devier and freshman Jasmine Adams made it to the semifinals in the doubles tournament of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Texas Regionals from Oct. 14 to Oct. 18.

Devier and Adams were unranked during their semifinal run and faced off against multiple ranked opponents, including the No. 4 seed, before falling to the No. 2 seeded doubles team in the tournament from Baylor University, 6-2, 6-2.

“It was good to compete against those girls,” Devier said. “It’s always like a learning experience and we get a lot from those tournaments, especially playing against those girls like the big teams like Baylor.”

While the duo found the loss disappointing, Devier explained that it was difficult going up against a team that had much more experience than them.

“What was tough was that we couldn’t find a way to win,” Devier said. “It’s our first semester together and [the other team is] used to [playing] together for two or three years.”

For Adams, the success in her first semester at UNT shows exactly where they are at the moment and where they could be in the future.

“Just being there and seeing the competition for the first time was good and we ended up doing pretty good,” Adams said. “I mean it shows that we’re pretty close to the top level at the moment.”

While the two do not have much experience playing with each other, Adams says that she enjoys partnering up with Devier on the court.

“We have a little fun together so I guess it makes it much easier to play with each other,” Adams said. “We’re out there to improve and represent our school so we just go out there and play our best.”

Devier believes that their skills and their ability to communicate with each other on the court has helped them be competitive.

“We are both very good at going to poach and variation, we can do a little bit of everything, and communication,” said Devier.

Head coach Sujay Lama adds that both Devier and Adams have similar strengths that complement each other well in doubles. 

“Both of them have big serves, and both of them are not afraid to be active at the net,” Lama said. “Both of them have an aggressive mindset.”

Lama says that having fun while they compete is a key component to their improvement and connection on the court this season.

“I think part of doubles success is also enjoying each other,” Lama said. “They are enjoying on the court and off the court also, they are having fun.”

Adams shared the same sentiment and added that the two enjoy trying new tactics and techniques while working together. 

“We like doing our little trick shots at the net, little volleys, we like changing up the game,” Adams said. “[We] work well together because we like doing all that and we like doing doubles so much.”

Lama states he has high hopes for the two teammates as they head into the spring season, with chances to do something special on the national stage.

“I really believe that they will only get better and I really believe that they will have opportunities in the spring to move up in the rankings and my goal for them is to make the NCAA tournament and do something special,” Lama said.

Even though the fall season is nearing the end, Devier and Adams believe that there are still things to improve on despite how well the season has already gone.

“We’re going the right way at the moment. I think we just need to keep going at it, keep practicing,” Adams said. “We’re pretty close to it at the moment.”

Image sources Rick Yeatts Photography / Mean Green Sports