Big East Preview
April 18, 2006 07:51 PM | General
April 18, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team heads into the Big East tournament with a seventh seeding and a six-match winning streak. Twelve teams qualify for this year’s tournament, six more than last year’s six-team field.
 |
||
| Stacey Percival is 12-7 overall including an 8-1 record playing at No. 3 singles.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“If it were sixth we would have been in a battle this year because we have four very good teams at the top in Notre Dame, South Florida, Louisville and DePaul,” said West Virginia coach Dan Silverstein.
The Mountaineers (9-10) will take on No. 10-seeded Seton Hall (10-11) on Thursday morning at 9 am with the winner facing tournament host South Florida on Friday at 9 am.
West Virginia won at Seton Hall 4-3 back on April 7.
“Seton Hall is a tough team but we’ve had some success against them and we feel pretty confident going into Thursday’s match,” Silverstein said.
The Mountaineers have upgraded their schedule this year after last season’s 16-6 campaign. WVU has played three teams currently in the ITA national rankings, including No. 22 William & Mary.
“Our schedule was a lot harder due to the fact that we had such a good year last year that we put a little higher expectation on the girls,” Silverstein said. “We battled in every match.”
After dropping a 4-2 decision to Arkansas-Little Rock on Mar. 26 to fall to 3-10, WVU has won six straight.
“Confidence is the biggest thing with our girls,” Silverstein said. “We’re right there with everybody. We’ve got the talent, it’s just a little bit young and we’ve got to start believing a little more in ourselves.”
Four of the six players in West Virginia’s lineup are sophomores, including No. 1 player Natalia Prinz who owns an 11-7 record this year. All six return next year.
Monica Lyskawa has a 9-10 record at No. 2 singles. Stacey Percival will play at No. 3 with a 12-7 mark, while Kelly Walsh (7-10), Raynie Theis (6-5) and Colleen Speaker (7-10) round out the Mountaineer lineup.
“Raynie is back in the lineup and has won six straight heading into the tournament and Stacey has played well all season long,” Silverstein said.
Percival will team with Prinz at No. 1 doubles, while Theis and Walsh will play No. 2 doubles. Since the two doubles teams were paired in mid-March, they have combined to win all nine matches.
No. 2-ranked Notre Dame is the heavy favorite to capture the tournament. The Irish, No. 45-ranked South Florida and No. 70 Louisville play a limited Big East schedule and are seeded 1, 2 and 3.
The Irish will take on the winner of the Marquette-Rutgers match, while Louisville battles the Pitt-Syracuse winner. The fourth seed, DePaul, plays the winner of the St. John’s-Connecticut match.
“We’re taking this one match at a time,” Silverstein said. “If we can beat Seton Hall that will guarantee us a top six finish in the conference. We know we’ve got to win three out of four to have a winning record and that’s one of our goals.”
After beating Duquesne 4-0 Tuesday afternoon, the team will fly to Tampa Wednesday and will have a noon workout at USF Varsity Courts.
“If we can get past Seton Hall we play again on Friday at 9 am so the heat won’t be that much of a factor,” Silverstein said.
The championship game will take place on Sunday morning at 9 am with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament going to the winner.
