By rssfeeds-admin One of the doubles teams in the program is made up of Eliza Liva Kalnina and Paulina Dobrev.
“We are very similar,” Dobrev said. “You know when you have someone by your side that you trust, everything is easier.”
“I know if I’m going to have a bad moment, Paulie is going to fix something for me. If I pass bad, then she’s going to find a way to get me back into the game,” Liva Kalnina said.
Coming to Texarkana from similar areas of Europe, Dobrev from Spain and Liva Kalnina from Latvia, helps the two relate on another level.
“They’re a goofy group,” said head coach Madeleine Halford. “They’re really great. Eliza is very spunky and so is Paulie. I think they both fit really well together because they’re both international students.”
Both jumped at the chance to be apart of the first year program.
“When coach said they’re opening a beach program, I just got excited and thought I might as well try it,” Liva Kalnina said.
As for Halford, start a new program is no challenge for her.
“It’s my third collegiate program that I’ve started in my history of coaching, so been there, done that,” Halford said. “You have to start from absolutely zero, you have to make a game plan together and get everyone on the same page and make sure we have the facilities we need, the gear we need, the travel schedule we need, and recruiting all the girls.”
And while recruiting to a brand new program has its challenges, plenty of ambitious young athletes salivate at the challenge.
“Its so exciting to be apart of a new program,” Halford said. “You get to put your imprint on the game and on that team and you’ll be known forever. It’s just a really exciting thing in general and I think that really brings them in.”
“We all want to prove just cause its first year we can still do really good,” Liva Kalnina said.
And the Lady Eagles are doing just that, as they received votes in the first national NAIA poll of the season back in March.
“We had a really good first weekend, we played some really good, competitive teams, they’ve also been ranked or received votes so if you play really well against those teams or beat those teams you’re going to receive that recognition, so super proud we were able to do so,” Halford said.
TAMUT is looking to build on that.
“I think the people we have here, the whole program has so much potential,” Dobrev said.
With the program growing in numbers next season, the Lady Eagles are looking to expand that potential.
“I want us to be successful, whatever that looks like,” Halford said. “If the girls feel like they’ve had success here then I’ve been successful, we’ve all been successful.”
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