In her time at Southwestern, senior Esther Bowers has participated in or witnessed some of the most significant milestones in the women's tennis program's history.
As a freshman, Bowers teamed with Kate Daugherty to win the 2017 ITA Regional Doubles Championship for the first time in school history. Daugherty would also win the singles Regional Championship. The pair became the program's first All-Americans. In each of Bowers' four seasons, Southwestern has climbed higher in the national rankings, cracking the top 20 for the first time last year, finishing the shortened season at No. 20.
Bowers has won All-SCAC accolades in each of her two seasons the conference had an all-conference team. She has been on the All-Tournament team in doubles and singles. In her decorated career, only one accomplishment remains.
"She wants a conference championship, that's it," head coach Billy Porter said. "She's already accepted a scholarship with Angelo State for grad school, and she already knows what her future holds. All she has left to do is win a conference title and graduate."
Last season, Southwestern appeared on the verge of its best shot at unseating Trinity's reign of dominance over the SCAC. The Pirates boasted three All-Americans, defeated Trinity players several times in the Fall ITA Regionals, and overtook the Tigers in the national rankings for the first time in school history.
Every spring team sport graduated a program cornerstone in last year's pandemic-shortened season. Only women's tennis could fill the void of losing its best player in program history, Mary Cardone, with two All-Americans in Bowers and Nina Mitrofanova.
As a freshman, Mitrofanova became the program's latest All-American by becoming the second player in school history to win the ITA Fall Regional Singles Championship. In the spring's dual matches, she posted a 3-1 record playing in each of the top three spots in singles and a 5-2 record playing alongside Bowers in No. 1 doubles.
"I think it's safe to say we know who our top two players are. We just don't know which one will play one and which will play two," Porter said. "It might be a thing where we rotate them, which is something we've done in the past."
Weirdly, the loss of Cardone might prove to be a boon to Mitrofanova, according to Porter.
"I think not having Cardone is going to help Nina. I know that sounds crazy because Mary is the greatest player in program history," Porter said. "I think Nina is a gamer who rises to challenges. You can already see her in practice trying to fill that void. She wanted to play No. 1 last year, so playing No.3 was really tough for her. If she gets the call, she's going to do well because she wants it so badly."
In the middle and tail end of the singles lineup is a pair of promising sophomores in Emma Kesterson and Taylor Despriet, two steady upperclassmen in junior Nina Elez and senior Mariana Quetzeri, and junior Chandler Vrba, who appears to be coming on as a late bloomer.
"I think Emma Kesterson played well at No. 4 for us and is going to be reliable in the middle of the lineup," Porter said. "Nina Elez is back and should be our No. 5 this year. Mariana, who has been a star for us the past three years, is in the mix. Chandler Vrba is someone who has been on the outside [of the rotation] the past few years, but she's made a strong impression this spring and is someone to keep an eye on as someone good enough to crack the top six."
Quetzeri had a breakout season in 2019, winning All-SCAC and SCAC All-Tournament honors, going 13-3 that season while playing primarily from No. 3 singles. She had a 3-0 record in dual match singles last season, winning at the No. 1, 2, and 6 spots. Vrba was 8-1 in 2019, including a 5-1 record from No. 6 singles. Last year, Kesterson was 3-1, and Despriet was 5-0.
The team also has expectations for freshman Sydney Wahl, a Canadian who finally arrived on campus this Thursday, and sophomore Allie Ziehm.
"Alli has been solid for us in doubles, and we don't expect that to be any different," Porter said. "The real wild card for us is Syndey Wahl. We know she's good. It's just a matter of how good is she and where does she fit in doubles? It's been challenging to make lineup decisions without knowing where she fits in."
Finding the right doubles combinations could be the key to a conference championship.
"We're not very good at doubles, and we just have to get better," Porter bluntly said. "We know the road to the championship has gone through Trinity, and every title or dual match has been 0-3 after doubles. We've gotten stronger in singles every year, but it's too little too late when you're down 0-3 against Trinity."
To prepare for conference play, the Pirates have made annual trips to the west and east coasts to compete against the top schools in Division III. With the pandemic limiting the miles the team can travel, Porter decided to instead travel to higher competition divisions.
"Being the top-ranked Division III program in Texas has given us leverage from a scheduling standpoint," Porter said. "We've taken on an enormous challenge this year with Division I and Division II programs to beef up our schedule."
The season opens against NCAA Division II Angelo State out of the Lone Star Conference (Feb. 5), and the list of other Division II opponents includes Texas A&M-Kingsville (Feb. 13) and St. Mary's University (Feb. 26). Southwestern will also face Tyler Junior College, the defending NJCAA National Champion (Mar. 27), and a trio of NCAA Division I opponents in Abilene Christian University (Feb. 19), Texas State (Feb. 21), and Tarleton State (Mar. 6).
Each significant leap the program has taken has come during surprise runs against nationally-ranked competitions. A few strong performances against higher competition levels might be enough to finally get the Pirates to break through at the SCAC Championships.
After all, no one has seen more Southwestern women's tennis history than Bowers. In her final season, why stop now?