Women’s tennis wins first national championship in program history

By Isabella Fernandez de Cueto and Bella Giaquinto •

Bringing its first NCAA Division II national championship home to NSU, the women’s tennis team secured the 2024 title after defeating six-time defending champion, Barry University, 4-2. After a highly competitive season-long battle, the Sharks finished with a 27-4 record.

“It’s amazing to be a part of history here at NSU,” said head women’s tennis coach Doug Neagle.

While the Sharks finished third in the Sunshine State Conference during the regular season, they earned the No. 1 ranking in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and dominated in NCAA tournament play. Recognized as Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year, ITA South Region Coach of the Year and ITA National Coach of the Year, Neagle ensured the team kept an open mind going into the 2023-2024 season.

“One of the strategies we had was just being very vague with our goals and establishing a culture of elevating,” Neagle said. “We really kept it as simple as that and the results just came organically.”

Freya Davies, graduate student and former team member, said that Neagle’s strategy worked in their favor.

“We worked hard and waited so it’s all that preparation that led us to that end moment,” Davies said. “Then obviously winning made it all worth it.”

Davies said that the team remained close all season and that it ultimately led to its success.

“We always wanted to go to practice because we loved seeing each other, so practice didn’t seem like much of a chore for any of us,” Davies said.

Despite injuries and illnesses, the team continued to stay positive and remain supportive of each other.

“Like all teams, different injuries and illnesses happen at certain times, but at the same time those turned into positives because someone always stepped up for their teammates,” Neagle said. “If somebody was down and out, whether it was a sickness or an injury, the teammates always picked each other up and everyone was ready when their name was called.”

During their championship run, the Sharks faced pressure against Barry, coming off of three previous losses.

“We lost to Barry three times already this season, once in the normal season, once at indoor nationals and once in the conference tournament,” Davies said. “I think we had a mental block against Barry so that was one of the challenges that we worked really hard together as a team to overcome and gain a little bit more belief that we could beat them and we did eventually.”

Although they faced initial difficulty, Neagle saw the talent and confidence from within the team going into the national championship.

“They went into that national championship with a lot of confidence,” Neagle said. “I think they went in with confidence not because I was superficially giving it to them. I think they earned it by hard work and truly believing that they would do it.”

Davies, hoping to return next season as the graduate assistant coach, was happy to earn the title with her team and has promising expectations for next season.

“It’s probably my biggest achievement in my tennis career and then doing it with those girls just made it better and even sweeter,” Davies said. “We can definitely achieve a win again and run deep into the postseason.”

Neagle plans on bringing the same mindset into next season, hoping to lead the Sharks to success through their tight culture.

“We have such good team chemistry and culture going right now. We’re just going to work on that everyday just by myself leading by example,” Neagle said. “We have fun and get it done.”

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