Throughout the summer and beginning of the year, we have well documents how Mizzou tennis enters the season without the luxury of knowing exactly what it has.
That is not necessarily a bad thing.
It is simply new.
With Robin Goodman taking over the program this offseason, the Tigers are still figuring out what their identity looks like. The fall schedule offers the first real opportunity to start answering those questions.
Mizzou opens its fall slate Sept. 25-27 at the Husker Invitational in Nebraska,
giving Goodman and his players their first chance to take the ideas they have worked on since the summer and put them into competition.
For a team with just one returning player in Alex Ackman, that matters.
The former five-star recruit enters her sophomore season after dealing with a wrist injury, while freshmen Irina Anghel, Leticia Bazan, Daria Budko, Danielle Chapman, Mariana Higuita Barraza, Alba Salles Canudas, and Evelyn Whiteside all begin their collegiate careers.
There is no shortage of unknowns.
But that may be exactly what makes this fall so important.
The invitationals are not about collecting wins toward a spring record. They are about discovering what works.
Goodman has talked about building a culture around the program and creating an environment where his players can grow. The fall provides a blank canvas to begin doing that.
Every match gives Goodman another piece of information. Every doubles pairing can reveal chemistry. Every close set can show how a young roster responds when momentum swings.
And with the Husker Invitational followed by the Charlotte Invitational and ITA competition in October, Mizzou will have plenty of opportunities to experiment.
That makes this fall less about where the Tigers finish and more about what they look like while getting there.
The biggest question is simple: What does Mizzou tennis look like under Goodman?
We may not have the complete answer by the end of September. We probably shouldn’t.
But we should have a few clues.
The first tournament will introduce Ackman and the young Tigers. More importantly, it will give Goodman his first chance to see his vision compete outside the practice court.
The results will matter.
So will everything behind them.
Because this fall is not just preparation for the spring.
It is the beginning of finding out what this program can become.
Tiger Topspin will be back next Monday previewing the Husker invitational, Columns and Courts will be back for more exclusive Mizzou Tennis content.
