University of Delaware Athletics
Photo by: Elijah Sessoms
Trust the Process: Delaware Women's Tennis Version
4/25/2024 6:34:00 PM | Women's Tennis
In 1974, W. Timothy Gallwey wrote the "The Inner Game of Tennis," 128 pages of explaining how to conquer the mental aspect of tennis and peak performance. It is a book that tennis players refer to often, but many beyond the sport have also gravitated towards in efforts to conquer their own mental challenges.
It helps a lot of people to stay focused. Many are focused by setting goals. If a team sets a goal to win its conference in the upcoming season, it may go through its schedule and mark the most significant matches, the matches it decides it must win, and perhaps some matches for which it decides to invest fewer preparation resources due to lack of competition, planning to save its greater preparation and effort for tougher matches where they deem necessary.
The University of Delaware women's tennis team is on a mission: to not have any goals.
While many teams and players set aside goals before the season, this could not be further from the minds of the women's team that calls Newark, Delaware home.
"Ironically, this is one of the first seasons when we did not talk about goals," Director of Tennis/Head Women's Tennis Coach Pablo Montana said. "Goals are out of our control; it's an outcome, so we focused more this year about the process."
This "Fight Club mentality" has had a positive impact on the team. The Blue Hens are 18-6, while boasting an undefeated record in CAA play at 5-0 so far this season, good enough for earning their highest seed in program history for the CAA Championship.
The top-seeded Hens garnered several other accolades as they just wrapped up their regular season before heading off to CAA championships hosted by Elon University in North Carolina. Delaware finished their home schedule undefeated, earning victories in all 12 matches. The team ended the season on a four-game winning streak, including the highest ranked win in program history when the Blue & Gold blanked #70 VCU, 4-0.
A former professional tennis player with over 20 years of coaching college tennis, Montana has continued to turn to the same ideas that have made him a successful coach at every stop he has made: culture, competitiveness, and player development.
Over the past three seasons the Hens have won at least 17 matches, including a program record 21 last year.
"I've played and coached at the highest levels, so the culture I wanted to bring in from the get-go was a culture of competitiveness," Montana said. "We planted those seeds in 2016; this is what worked out: we're a culture of competitiveness but we do it the right way. We're competing with ourselves with the intention that we are trying to get better than how we were yesterday, always trying to raise that bar."
Montana was hired to coach the men's team in 2016. In 2020, he transitioned to being the head coach of both programs, having placed the seeds for the men's team to be successful for years to come.
In his four seasons with the women's tennis team, Montana, like everywhere else he has been, has simply won.
He is quite humble about his success he has had in tennis as a player and now a coach (in fact, his team takes after him in this concept). For Montana, his ability to stick with his own script in what he believes brings out the best players has hit remarkably year after year; especially in Newark.
"When I came in, I knew what I wanted to bring in," Montana said. "And it's not rocket science. You want to work hard, play a good schedule, play with integrity, play with character… you're going to get better. That's what you ultimately try to look for when recruiting players."
Of course, college coaches are looking to build programs that will be prosperous, sustainable, and successful for several years. Ideally, the system and philosophy they bring to their team would allow them to compete for conference titles and NCAA Tournaments yearly.
Montana has improved the program every year since arriving in Newark. During his first season with the women's team, the Hens finished 7-1 in a severely interrupted season filled with match cancellations due to COVID. The Hens would conclude their season with a loss in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament against Charleston.
Montana's impact would be seen as sufficient by most, but for him, the team had a good season but not good enough.
During the 2021-22 season, the Hens finished 19-6 and made it to the semifinals in the CAA Tournament after beating Drexel and eventually falling to William & Mary.
Last season, the Hens finished 21-4 and 7-1 in CAA play. They were undefeated at home with eight wins and were 13-3 in road matches.
Jump ahead to the present. The Hens are 18-6, 5-0 in the CAA, and about start the CAA Championship as the number one seed. Montana's system has worked well at Delaware, and he believes that success is contagious.
"People and players want to be associated with a winning program. The more success we're having, the more interest we're getting from recruits," Montana said. "It's good we are getting this exposure; every year we have been able to increase the quality of our matches and our schedule. It's great to have these Power 5 teams on our schedule and it's great that we are beating some of them."
It is not just beating Power 5 teams that is putting Delaware women's tennis over the hump, according to Montana. He complements his power 5 opponents by scheduling the Ivy League as well, in addition to playing the regular CAA schedule.
Regarding the culture Montana has helped establish -- beyond competitiveness, working hard, and pushing his student-athletes to be the best they can be -- the Hens' team chemistry has boosted the program in many ways.
For Slade Coetzee, a graduate transfer from College of Charleston, the team culture of everyone getting along on and off the court helped sway her to use her final year of eligibility to compete at Delaware.
"Immediately when I went to tour the campus, everyone was just amazing," Coetzee said. "They made me feel very welcomed here; all the girls were super sweet. I loved that about the school and knew instantly that I wanted to come here for my last year."
Coetzee's decision definitely has paid off for both herself and for the Hens. And then some.
While primarily playing first singles for the Hens, Coetzee boasts a 20-8 singles record, including 14-5 in dual play. In doubles, Coetzee finished the regular season with a 17-11 record, playing mostly third doubles.
With Coetzee's strong play both in singles and doubles, it is easy to connect the dots and see how her play has helped the Hens finish 18-6 and undefeated in CAA play. Still, the result is greater than just her play. It is the entire team and its will to be great, according to Coetzee.
"Everyone is so committed; we all want the same thing," Coetzee said. "We want to be successful, we want to win conference, we want to go further than that… everyone is on the same page, we push each other and hold everyone to a high standard."
For example, Julieta Honrubia, a senior and native of Cuenca, Spain had been recruited by the previous coaching regime under Kelly Anderson, chose Delaware based on what future coach Montana would preach for her entire collegiate career.
"Most schools were talking about themselves and trying to sell themselves" Honrubia said. "Kelly asked me about my game, what things I like to do on court, and what I thought I could bring to the team. And I think they were valuing me more and it seemed like a place I could grow more."
When Montana took over the program early in Honrubia's career, she knew based her observation of the coach's previous stint with the men's team that they were in good hands.
Honrubia and the women's team followed coach Montana's approach of having a goalless season. While they had been quite successful the past two seasons, they knew what was at stake and what they wanted to do this season. The 17 wins plus in each of the previous two seasons showed that. So, for the 2023-24 season, it became about taking care of business on the court, a concept everyone has been able to get behind due to their previous success and the growth of the team over multiple seasons.
"We have been focusing on one point at a time every match this season," Honrubia said. "I think that is why we have been so successful; we are not thinking of the end goal and we are focusing on what we can control."
When you begin to break down the Hens' matches, you can see how this approach and mentality have benefitted the team this season. Instead of looking ahead to more challenging opponents or certain matches that may seem more intriguing, the approach of one game at a time, one point at a time, one match at a time, has helped the Hens collect wins throughout the season, while dominating most opponents and being able to post a .750 winning percentage.
What does the breakdown look like from Honrubia's play?
She finished 14-6 this year in doubles, rotating as second and third doubles. In addition, she gritted out a bunch of tough matches in singles play, doing her part to get the team to 18-6. The whole team did their part with individuals playing their own role for the Hens to once again be at this point for the third season in a row.
While they avoided setting specific goals prior to the season, the Hens did have ideas that echoed in their minds throughout the season.
"We want to win at CAA Championship, we want to go to the NCAA Tournament. We want to be as successful as we can be," Coetzee said.
Notice: these were not specific goals for the team in August in 2023; the results just came about from their play beginning in January.
Honrubia notes that, while not specific goals before a season even starts, certain pathways become more visible as a result of successful play as the team goes through the season. Now, with the Hens putting themselves in such a strong position going into postseason tournament play, it is easier to see what they can accomplish in the grand scheme of things based on the work they have already put in.
It is easy to see how this non-goal orientated team is able to accomplish so many "goals" that other programs might set.
"We based everything off our core values," Honrubia said. "One big thing for us is to get one percent better each day."
Every Hen has their own core value. And after every match, every player evaluates whether or not they amplified that core value.
For the captain, her core value is influence. This is fitting. If Honrubia can be influential through her own example of strong play or in encouragement of teammates, chances are the team will win. Again, the Hens might not be "setting goals," but they are certainty accomplishing tasks and challenges in their own way.
Influence becomes leadership for this team, and leadership is a trait that has enabled the Hens to be so successful.
"We have good leadership on this team and that really makes a difference," Montana said. "When you have good leadership, it makes everything easier. The team respect them and there is a huge buy in with that."
With one last run of collegiate eligibility, Coetzee is glad she made the decision to play her final year at Delaware, even if it was the first time the lefty born and raised in Miami experienced cold weather.
"It feels good and I wanted to end this last year giving it everything I could to push myself to the limits and see how far we could go," Coetzee said. "When I am on the court, I put my head down and focus on every little thing. The girls push me, the coaches push me, we all push each other for the
good."
The Hens have been building off everything as they strove to finish the regular season at 18-6. It really has been one match at a time. But even for Honrubia, often it's been one point at a time: first point of the match, then off to the second point, and on and on.
Montana credits the historic 2023-24 tennis season for the women's team to the players' total buy-in. When the overall mentality of each player focusing on her own role became contagious, success followed.
"When one or two start doing the right thing, if three and four start doing the right thing, five and six start doing the right things, it becomes a positive domino effect," Montana said.
But Montana knows the rest of the grind is tough. The Hens are close to winning the CAA Championship but not close enough. As reflected in many of his, Honrubia, and Coetzee's comments, it is one step at a time, no goals; they know what they want, it's is just a matter of going out and taking it.
"Whatever seed we get, we understand that in order to win a championship, you have to beat the good teams," Montana said. "We are not going to get locked in or fixated on what our seed is. We know that we have to take care of business one match at a time."
It helps a lot of people to stay focused. Many are focused by setting goals. If a team sets a goal to win its conference in the upcoming season, it may go through its schedule and mark the most significant matches, the matches it decides it must win, and perhaps some matches for which it decides to invest fewer preparation resources due to lack of competition, planning to save its greater preparation and effort for tougher matches where they deem necessary.
The University of Delaware women's tennis team is on a mission: to not have any goals.
While many teams and players set aside goals before the season, this could not be further from the minds of the women's team that calls Newark, Delaware home.
"Ironically, this is one of the first seasons when we did not talk about goals," Director of Tennis/Head Women's Tennis Coach Pablo Montana said. "Goals are out of our control; it's an outcome, so we focused more this year about the process."
This "Fight Club mentality" has had a positive impact on the team. The Blue Hens are 18-6, while boasting an undefeated record in CAA play at 5-0 so far this season, good enough for earning their highest seed in program history for the CAA Championship.
The top-seeded Hens garnered several other accolades as they just wrapped up their regular season before heading off to CAA championships hosted by Elon University in North Carolina. Delaware finished their home schedule undefeated, earning victories in all 12 matches. The team ended the season on a four-game winning streak, including the highest ranked win in program history when the Blue & Gold blanked #70 VCU, 4-0.
A former professional tennis player with over 20 years of coaching college tennis, Montana has continued to turn to the same ideas that have made him a successful coach at every stop he has made: culture, competitiveness, and player development.
Over the past three seasons the Hens have won at least 17 matches, including a program record 21 last year.
"I've played and coached at the highest levels, so the culture I wanted to bring in from the get-go was a culture of competitiveness," Montana said. "We planted those seeds in 2016; this is what worked out: we're a culture of competitiveness but we do it the right way. We're competing with ourselves with the intention that we are trying to get better than how we were yesterday, always trying to raise that bar."
Montana was hired to coach the men's team in 2016. In 2020, he transitioned to being the head coach of both programs, having placed the seeds for the men's team to be successful for years to come.
In his four seasons with the women's tennis team, Montana, like everywhere else he has been, has simply won.
He is quite humble about his success he has had in tennis as a player and now a coach (in fact, his team takes after him in this concept). For Montana, his ability to stick with his own script in what he believes brings out the best players has hit remarkably year after year; especially in Newark.
"When I came in, I knew what I wanted to bring in," Montana said. "And it's not rocket science. You want to work hard, play a good schedule, play with integrity, play with character… you're going to get better. That's what you ultimately try to look for when recruiting players."
Of course, college coaches are looking to build programs that will be prosperous, sustainable, and successful for several years. Ideally, the system and philosophy they bring to their team would allow them to compete for conference titles and NCAA Tournaments yearly.
Montana has improved the program every year since arriving in Newark. During his first season with the women's team, the Hens finished 7-1 in a severely interrupted season filled with match cancellations due to COVID. The Hens would conclude their season with a loss in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament against Charleston.
Montana's impact would be seen as sufficient by most, but for him, the team had a good season but not good enough.
During the 2021-22 season, the Hens finished 19-6 and made it to the semifinals in the CAA Tournament after beating Drexel and eventually falling to William & Mary.
Last season, the Hens finished 21-4 and 7-1 in CAA play. They were undefeated at home with eight wins and were 13-3 in road matches.
Jump ahead to the present. The Hens are 18-6, 5-0 in the CAA, and about start the CAA Championship as the number one seed. Montana's system has worked well at Delaware, and he believes that success is contagious.
"People and players want to be associated with a winning program. The more success we're having, the more interest we're getting from recruits," Montana said. "It's good we are getting this exposure; every year we have been able to increase the quality of our matches and our schedule. It's great to have these Power 5 teams on our schedule and it's great that we are beating some of them."
It is not just beating Power 5 teams that is putting Delaware women's tennis over the hump, according to Montana. He complements his power 5 opponents by scheduling the Ivy League as well, in addition to playing the regular CAA schedule.
Regarding the culture Montana has helped establish -- beyond competitiveness, working hard, and pushing his student-athletes to be the best they can be -- the Hens' team chemistry has boosted the program in many ways.
For Slade Coetzee, a graduate transfer from College of Charleston, the team culture of everyone getting along on and off the court helped sway her to use her final year of eligibility to compete at Delaware.
"Immediately when I went to tour the campus, everyone was just amazing," Coetzee said. "They made me feel very welcomed here; all the girls were super sweet. I loved that about the school and knew instantly that I wanted to come here for my last year."
Coetzee's decision definitely has paid off for both herself and for the Hens. And then some.
While primarily playing first singles for the Hens, Coetzee boasts a 20-8 singles record, including 14-5 in dual play. In doubles, Coetzee finished the regular season with a 17-11 record, playing mostly third doubles.
With Coetzee's strong play both in singles and doubles, it is easy to connect the dots and see how her play has helped the Hens finish 18-6 and undefeated in CAA play. Still, the result is greater than just her play. It is the entire team and its will to be great, according to Coetzee.
"Everyone is so committed; we all want the same thing," Coetzee said. "We want to be successful, we want to win conference, we want to go further than that… everyone is on the same page, we push each other and hold everyone to a high standard."
For example, Julieta Honrubia, a senior and native of Cuenca, Spain had been recruited by the previous coaching regime under Kelly Anderson, chose Delaware based on what future coach Montana would preach for her entire collegiate career.
"Most schools were talking about themselves and trying to sell themselves" Honrubia said. "Kelly asked me about my game, what things I like to do on court, and what I thought I could bring to the team. And I think they were valuing me more and it seemed like a place I could grow more."
When Montana took over the program early in Honrubia's career, she knew based her observation of the coach's previous stint with the men's team that they were in good hands.
Honrubia and the women's team followed coach Montana's approach of having a goalless season. While they had been quite successful the past two seasons, they knew what was at stake and what they wanted to do this season. The 17 wins plus in each of the previous two seasons showed that. So, for the 2023-24 season, it became about taking care of business on the court, a concept everyone has been able to get behind due to their previous success and the growth of the team over multiple seasons.
"We have been focusing on one point at a time every match this season," Honrubia said. "I think that is why we have been so successful; we are not thinking of the end goal and we are focusing on what we can control."
When you begin to break down the Hens' matches, you can see how this approach and mentality have benefitted the team this season. Instead of looking ahead to more challenging opponents or certain matches that may seem more intriguing, the approach of one game at a time, one point at a time, one match at a time, has helped the Hens collect wins throughout the season, while dominating most opponents and being able to post a .750 winning percentage.
What does the breakdown look like from Honrubia's play?
She finished 14-6 this year in doubles, rotating as second and third doubles. In addition, she gritted out a bunch of tough matches in singles play, doing her part to get the team to 18-6. The whole team did their part with individuals playing their own role for the Hens to once again be at this point for the third season in a row.
While they avoided setting specific goals prior to the season, the Hens did have ideas that echoed in their minds throughout the season.
"We want to win at CAA Championship, we want to go to the NCAA Tournament. We want to be as successful as we can be," Coetzee said.
Notice: these were not specific goals for the team in August in 2023; the results just came about from their play beginning in January.
Honrubia notes that, while not specific goals before a season even starts, certain pathways become more visible as a result of successful play as the team goes through the season. Now, with the Hens putting themselves in such a strong position going into postseason tournament play, it is easier to see what they can accomplish in the grand scheme of things based on the work they have already put in.
It is easy to see how this non-goal orientated team is able to accomplish so many "goals" that other programs might set.
"We based everything off our core values," Honrubia said. "One big thing for us is to get one percent better each day."
Every Hen has their own core value. And after every match, every player evaluates whether or not they amplified that core value.
For the captain, her core value is influence. This is fitting. If Honrubia can be influential through her own example of strong play or in encouragement of teammates, chances are the team will win. Again, the Hens might not be "setting goals," but they are certainty accomplishing tasks and challenges in their own way.
Influence becomes leadership for this team, and leadership is a trait that has enabled the Hens to be so successful.
"We have good leadership on this team and that really makes a difference," Montana said. "When you have good leadership, it makes everything easier. The team respect them and there is a huge buy in with that."
With one last run of collegiate eligibility, Coetzee is glad she made the decision to play her final year at Delaware, even if it was the first time the lefty born and raised in Miami experienced cold weather.
"It feels good and I wanted to end this last year giving it everything I could to push myself to the limits and see how far we could go," Coetzee said. "When I am on the court, I put my head down and focus on every little thing. The girls push me, the coaches push me, we all push each other for the
good."
The Hens have been building off everything as they strove to finish the regular season at 18-6. It really has been one match at a time. But even for Honrubia, often it's been one point at a time: first point of the match, then off to the second point, and on and on.
Montana credits the historic 2023-24 tennis season for the women's team to the players' total buy-in. When the overall mentality of each player focusing on her own role became contagious, success followed.
"When one or two start doing the right thing, if three and four start doing the right thing, five and six start doing the right things, it becomes a positive domino effect," Montana said.
But Montana knows the rest of the grind is tough. The Hens are close to winning the CAA Championship but not close enough. As reflected in many of his, Honrubia, and Coetzee's comments, it is one step at a time, no goals; they know what they want, it's is just a matter of going out and taking it.
"Whatever seed we get, we understand that in order to win a championship, you have to beat the good teams," Montana said. "We are not going to get locked in or fixated on what our seed is. We know that we have to take care of business one match at a time."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Highlight: WTEN vs. Morgan State & Del State - 4/10/23
Tuesday, April 11
Highlight: WTEN - First Practice 2023
Wednesday, January 18
Highlight: MTEN - First Practice 2023
Wednesday, January 18
Delaware Blue Hens All-Sport Video 2021-22
Friday, December 09
