Women's tennis coach Eric Mahone wants to instill a sense of professionalism into his team this season. Mahone is the first fill-time tennis coach UD has had. In his first season here, he has taken over both the men's and women's teams. Before arriving at UD, Mahone coached at the University of Chicago.

"I was actually both the men's and women's coach there, as well," Mahone said.

The Flyers lost their first match of 2010 to Ball State 4-3 Jan. 16. Their next match is on Feb. 6 against Kennesaw State.

Despite the opening match loss, Mahone is confident that his team will have a successful season.

"We have a really good group of girls," Mahone said. "We have the GPA that is one of the highest at the school. We have some really hard workers who are really mature. We really have a lot of talent, and we hope to have a good year this year."

Mahone is anticipating a successful season from the number one, two and three players: freshman Julie Kirkland, junior Laina Grote and sophomore Loni Dickerhoof.

"We have really high expectations for those three girls," Mahone said. "They've put in a lot of work."

Additionally, he wants the team to think of themselves as professionals. "Having them think of themselves as more of professionals and really taking it seriously [is key]," Mahone said.

Hard work at practice will also contribute to the team's growth this season. "[We want to] make sure they have a lot of intensity at practice, and they don't waste time at practice," he said. "I think also just for our girls learning to compete [is important] and actually believing in themselves, as well."

Mahone has brought many new ideas and strategies in his first year at UD. "I really enjoy playing for my coach," Kirkland said. "He has a lot of new strategies and is easy going and laid back and easy to talk to."

The Flyers hope to have a top five finish in the A-10, this season and in the next few seasons win the tournament.

"As a team I think we want to improve in the A-10 and we're looking forward to doing well this year," Kirkland said.

Mahone is particularly anticipating the match against Xavier March 28.

"I think that's going to be a good marker of where our girls are by the time we get to that match," he said.

The team has already seen improvement since last season.

"I think we're better than [we were] last year already," Dickerhoof said.

Mahone has high hopes for the team this season and believes they can play like professionals.

"We're trying to add a level of professionalism to what they do," he said. "We're just trying to raise our expectations."