Salem State College Athletics

"The following feature was written by Salem State student, Brian Davidson. Brian is a junior who is majoring in Business Marketing."

The 2009 Salem State Lady Viking tennis team can be epitomized in three words: "spirit", "pride", and "heart". The team finished with the best regular season record in the history of women’s tennis at Salem State, going 8-1, and losing only to perennial power Endicott College, and Bridgewater State in the Little East conference semi-finals.
 
There was one constant for Salem State throughout every matchup. Her name is Megan Cote. Cote has become a legend in the circle of Salem State tennis. Cote lacked a check mark in her loss column this season going undefeated at the No. 1 singles position after capturing the Little East conference championship with a 10-0 record. This earned her the 2009 Little East Player of the Year honors. This is the second time the senior from Fall River, Massachusetts went undefeated in a season, a feat she also accomplished as a freshman in 2006. 

Her career singles won-loss record finished with a final tally of 45-3, for a .938 winning percentage. “The record could have been better but Megan bowed out of match ups early in her career to allow other teammates the chance to play,“ said Salem State Lady Vikings head coach, Joe Dunn.
 
“Win or lose, you played great today. We have to keep on pushing because anything can happen,” said Megan Cote, after a victory over the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs. A quote that, if stood alone could, be mistaken from a professional football player from camp Bill Belichick, the esteemed football coach of the New England Patriots. 

A turning point for the team came after the 2008 season. The Lady Vikings finished with a disappointing 3-7 record. However, it was one of the most influential in building toward this season’s success. It was common in 2008 to walk out to the courts and see two coaches. However, Salem State only lists one coach on the women’s tennis team roster. 

The other coach was Megan Cote. She would sacrifice her own practice time to help improve her teammate’s game. The results of Megan’s work came in small victories in 2008. Players like sophomore Patty Quartararo would begin to make the extra strokes to continue rallies. 

The little pieces of the puzzle began to come together for the team. The big picture became clearer as more puzzle pieces were assembled. The 8-2 record of 2009 was the completion of the puzzle.
Dunn and Cote may have been the engineers of the team’s success, but they will be the first to tell you the team’s commitment to improvement was the driving force of the most successful season on the books. 

“Its not uncommon to see the girls get to the courts early and stay late to help each other out,” said Cote.“Carly Muniz was not able to participate in the games last year but she would still come to practice,” said Coach Dunn. Muniz amassed a 7-2 regular season record as the team’s No. 3 singles player despite not seeing any action in the 2008 season. 

One trait the 2009 tennis team had was camaraderie. If you missed this season, make sure you don’t miss next Fall. Watch any of the team’s doubles matches next season. If you don’t see teammates handing out words of encouragement, high fives, or smacking their rackets together, you are watching the wrong team. Turn and watch the girls with the smiles on their faces. Turn and watch the determination on their brow. Turn and envision their DNA helix as a twisted tennis net lined with blue and orange chromosomes. When one girl steps onto the clay the rest of the team is there for support.  

Good leadership, like water, tends to run down hill. This leadership stems from Megan Cote. She will be the last one to mention being a three-time team MVP, losing out only once in her career to Kie Tanaka, a two-time conference champion, who was the best Salem State tennis player until Cote arrived on scene. She will fail to tell you she was voted as the Little East Player of the Week and Salem State College Athlete of the Week numerous times. That she was singles champion in 2006 and 2007. She won’t tell you that she received the Salem State’s President’s Cup award for the 2007-2008 season that is given out by President Meservey to the best female athlete of the school. She won’t tell you she won the 2009 Little East Conference’s Player of the Year Award. 

Megan Cote is a true leader and a true inspiration to her teammates. She is a surefire Salem State Hall of Famer.