WVU Looks to Improve on Past
April 16, 2009 08:59 AM | General
April 16, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the third consecutive season under third-year Coach Marc Walters, the West Virginia women’s tennis team is making the trip to the Big East Championships. The difference this year with the 10th-seeded Mountaineers is they have no pressure unlike years past.
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| Stephanie LaFortune and the Mountaineers face Syracuse Thursday in the opening round of the Big East Tournament.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
“I’ve been here three years, we’ve qualified three years and all three years we’ve gone in under pretty different circumstances,” Walters said. “My first year we qualified with the fifth seed and got unceremoniously dumped in the first round by a Rutgers team that was probably better than we thought they were.”
That season, the team finished with a final record of 13-12 (7-3) and lost two of three matches in the tournament. The 2008 season West Virginia again made the tournament, finishing 15-10 (5-4), this time as a 10-seed, but had the same result as 2007, going 1-2 in the tournament.
This season is opposite of the 2007 season with the Mountaineers taking on Syracuse, a team that had no problem disposing of West Virginia, 6-1, in regular season play - similar to the way the Mountaineers defeated Rutgers 6-1 in 2007. The difference this time, however, is that the Mountaineers seem to be peaking at the right time.
“Obviously beating Syracuse would put us in the top eight which would be a nice place to finish, but then again a win over Syracuse and two losses wouldn’t necessarily be as nice of ending to the season as beating Syracuse and winning two matches,” Walters said. “They’re young with a lot of freshmen in their lineup and this is going to be their first exposure to slow outdoor courts down there with a lot on the line, whereas our kids are looking forward to that.”
In the first meeting of the season, West Virginia’s lone point came from doubles play as Stephanie LaFortune and Monique Burton and Olga Elkin and Veronica Cardenas each defeated their opponents in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively.
“They’ve (Syracuse) had a year to play together and Luke (Jensen) knows what he’s doing,” Walters said. “He’s a world class doubles player, so I don’t feel those girls are going to do anything except get better, however it’s still going to be a pressure situation for both teams, in that anything can happen if we get deep in the match.”
In singles play, the lineup has changed a lot and Walters will look to use that as an advantage to the young Syracuse team. He is also looking for veterans Elkin, LaFortune and Burton to step it up and lead this inexperienced team into foreign waters.
“They’ve been a little inconsistent, but I think all three are peaking at the right time,” Walters noted. “Stephanie is playing at the No. 1 spot and that’s just a tough assignment for anyone. We’re going into the tournament with every girl in our lineup .500 or better at their spot, so they feel comfortable with the caliber of competition at their spots.”
The 2008 team was led by Stacey Percival, Monica Lyskawa and Natalia Prinz, all since graduated. The three combined for a record of 40-32. Only Burton, LaFortune, Gabriela Blaskovicova and Ashley Pilsbury were on last year's team.
“Experience wise, we’re not very good - you can’t replace experience. Stacey, Monica and Natalia could all win matches. They could judge their opponents and say, ‘I’m going to win today. It might not be pretty, but I’m going to get a win.’” Walters said. “A freshman doesn’t know Maria Sharapova on the other side of the net from Joe Shmoe, they’re just going to go play their game and they don’t do as good of a job reading into their opponent’s level.”
Even though West Virginia has the 10-seed for the second consecutive season, Walters saw the 2009 team make steady improvement against much tougher competition during the regular season.
“I think we’ve added four or five matches this year that are as tough as any team that was on our schedule last year, so you subtract those matches from this year’s, it’s a very comparable deal,” Walters said. “You still don’t have the production of No. 1 that you had, but we’ve been pretty good at the No. 2 spot where we were last year.
“This team has done a much better job of playing at their level consistently all the way through. The UConn match was the first time all year Cardenas lost a singles match and the team won. Everybody else was able to pick it up and help her out.”
As for being able to go to beautiful Tampa for the Big East Tournament every season, it serves as a reward to the girls for their hard work during the regular season.
“Our goal was to make the tournament this year, but a lot of teams thought we were going to be very weak,” Walters said. “We didn’t drop down into those bottom four schools. There are a few schools that didn’t make the tournament and that was a shocker for them.”
West Virginia will open the tournament taking on Syracuse at 9 a.m. on April 16 at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.
