Meet @RazorbackWTEN: Makenzie Craft
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 54 University of Arkansas women’s tennis team begins its 2015 spring schedule Saturday, Jan. 17 with a home doubleheader against Wichita State and Mercer. In an effort to get to know the Razorback women’s tennis team, ArkansasRazorbacks.com will feature a student-athlete each day leading up to Jan. 17.
Today’s featured student-athlete is junior Makenzie Craft.
Craft is in her first season with the Razorbacks. She previously competed at Georgia in 2012-13 and Baylor in 2013-14. During her first two collegiate seasons, she tallied a 27-22 overall singles record.
The Frisco, Texas, native had an impressive debut with the Razorbacks during the 2014 fall schedule. She posted an 8-7 overall singles record and advanced to the round of 16 at the ITA Central Regional Championships. Craft also finished runner-up in her flight at the Oklahoma Sooner Invite.
ArkansasRazorbacks.com recently sat down with Craft (@makenziecraft).
Why Arkansas? I took a trip to see Shannon (Hudson) and just fell in love with it here.
What do you do to get away from tennis? Movies, love movies.
Do you have a favorite? That’s a hard one. Depends on what kind of mood I’m in but you can never go wrong with Denzel Washington, I’m a huge fan.
Any movies you know all the lines to? Too many, too many. Like Bridesmaids, Pitch Perfect, all the classic really girly movies.
What is your favorite saying from Coach Hegarty? My favorite probably has to be just when he talks to us before we start playing. He doesn’t necessarily say the same things over and over but he’s always very good at knowing the right thing to say before we play that motivates us and really reminds us we’re playing for something more than ourselves, that we’re playing for each other and the university.
If you could play doubles with anybody, who would it be? Andy Roddick, I think he’s awesome and he’s hilarious.
Where is your favorite place on campus? I mean I spend all my time in the business building so we’re going to go with the business building.
Do you do anything in particular before a match? No I’m not too superstitious. I just kind of take it day by day.
Forehand or backhand? Backhand, it’s just always been my favorite. I don’t know, must be something about the two hands.
Of all the training that goes into tennis, what do you like to do the most? I like being fed the six-ball drill. You get a groundstroke, a groundstroke, approach shot, volley, volley, overhead, and the coach keeps feeding it so you get all aspects of the game in one drill.
What are you most looking forward to this season? Fighting as a Razorback for sure. I can’t wait to play and represent this team. We’re so close this year and I don’t see anything standing in our way because we’re so committed to one another.
For more information on Arkansas women’s tennis, check ArkansasRazorbacks.com and follow @RazorbackWTEN on Twitter.
