For the Virginia women's tennis team, this spring has been a rollercoaster season. The Cavaliers were ranked at No. 25 preseason and have bounced around the rankings before ending the season at No. 43.
Now, after ending their run in the ACC Tournament, losing to Clemson in the quarterfinals, the Cavaliers (11-11) sit on the bubble for a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The 64-team NCAA field will be announced May 1.
At the beginning of the season, problems with team dynamic and leadership issues resulted in the team playing well below its talent potential.
"Honestly, it hasn't been the best season that we've had," Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said. "It's one of those processes that you unfortunately have to go through. We all have to mature a little bit, and the coaching staff needs to step back and re-evaluate our methods and do some things differently."
The Cavaliers attacked the latter part of the season with increased drive and focus. Older players adapted to their leadership roles, younger players gained the necessary desire to genuinely succeed and the coaching staff found the balance between pushing the team and pulling back. The team was able to turn the season around, and rankings improved to reflect those changes. Losses turned to wins and confidence from those wins fueled even more wins.
"One of the high points is that we really have continued to work at it," Guilbeau said. "We've finally understood that our standards need to be higher, so we've moved forward and we've started doing it together."
The high point of the season came when lone senior Caroline Hammond broke the record for the most single wins in a season. Hammond started the team as a non-scholarship player and has improved steadily since that time. This year Hammondwas faced with the responsibility of leading the team. Though team dynamic was established slowly, Hammond carried the reins of the team gracefully.
NCAA Tournament bids will be assigned May 1, and Virginia is hopeful that its loss to Clemson will not be its final match of the season. An NCAA Tournament berth would serve as a springboard into next season and would help to show the team areas for improvement.
"We're really anxious about NCAA's," junior Lindsey Pereira said. "The whole team is very anxious. We're right on the line because we've moved up to 43 in the rankings and the top 40 are all pretty safe to get into the tournament, so we are in those few spots that will hopefully make it."
Read More
Volleyball holds off Boston College in tight five-set win
By Lauren Halak | 4 hours agoSenior outside hitter Elayna Duprey led the team throughout the match with 22 points and 18 kills.
Virginia annihilated 41-14 in a must-win contest versus North Carolina
By Peter Kriebel | YesterdayJust about everything that could have gone wrong for Virginia football went wrong.
No. 24 women’s soccer not to be denied in late win over Clemson
By Sam Chun | YesterdayThe Cavaliers topped Clemson 1-0 in front of a packed out Klöckner Stadium.
