The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

As a senior at Morgan State University, Danielle Thompson has been called upon to be more of a leader for the Lady Bears women’s division one tennis team.

In recent weeks, the Lady Bears lost a couple of players, which has forced Thompson to step up her game and she responded very well in a pair of MEAC Conference games over the weekend.

Now performing as the solo captain of the team and in the top spot, Thompson won her singles match with a 6-1, 4-6, 10-7 decision against the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday and 6-2, 6-4 against George Washington University. However, Morgan State lost both matches to drop their win-loss record to 1-6.

For Thompson, it has been a pretty rough season, but she’s excited to know that she’s getting into the flow of things after their roster has dwindled from seven to five players with the unexpected loss of two players over the last few weeks.

“The last few matches I’ve gotten into my groove and I had to put a lot of stuff behind me and just focus on what I have to do,” she told The Tribune. “I have tried not to let all of what is happening with the team affect me.

“I don’t know what happened, but after losing those two players, we are put at a disadvantage and that put a lot of pressure on the remaining players. I know I had to step it up and put it behind me and not allow the other girls to see how it affected me.”

With the majority of the other players as freshmen, Thompson said she’s been overwhelmed by the role she has had to take on, but she’s taken charge and the rest of the team has fed off her energy.

“We are more motivated because we have a lot more work to do than the other teams,” she said. “Most of the teams we are playing against have at least 7-10 girls and we are down to just five, so it’s a lot tougher for us to perform.”

Despite the circumstances, Thompson said she’s looking forward to leading the Lady Bears going into the remainder of the season when they take on Loyola University in Baltimore on Thursday.

Then during their spring break next week, the Lady Bears will head to North Carolina for a pair of conference games against North Carolina A&T State in Greensboro on Thursday, March 20 and North Carolina Central in Durham on Saturday, March 22.

“It gives me more motivation to play and prove to myself that I can lead the team especially since we don’t have all of the players that we should have on our roster,” she projected.

“I know I have to step my game up a lot more. I wouldn’t say that I feel pressured. I am pretty loose now that I got those few wins under my belt against those two big schools that we played. So when I go on the court, I play more loose and confident without any of the negative energy.”

As she prepares for the rest of the season, the 5-foot, 2-inch power-packed player will celebrate her 23rd birthday on Friday with a team dinner. ‘Danie,’ as she’s affectionately called, is the daughter of Gail and Stephen Thompson. She is expected to graduate in May with her degree in hospitality management.