This weekend Virginia women’s tennis will host the U.Va. Invitational at the Snyder Tennis Center, with play beginning Friday and concluding Sunday. The tournament includes a very competitive field of Tennessee, N.C. State, Marshall, South Carolina and Virginia Commonwealth.
“This is one of the strongest fall tournaments you will see in the country,” Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said. “It is great for us to play these teams since we will face a few in the regular season, giving us a great opportunity to scout them for the spring.”
Last weekend, Virginia made a strong showing in the Georgia Invitational, going 14-4 in singles play. Virginia freshmen Emily Fraser, Claire Bartlett and Lindsey Hardenbergh recorded eight of these wins. With only three returners on the women’s tennis team this year, it is important for these freshmen to have an impact as a group.
“The way these first-years have come in, we’re not skipping a beat, but we’re accelerating in our program,” Guilbeau said. “These young ladies have come in so far ahead of the curve and have accelerated in a positive fashion.”
The freshmen also have the opportunity to impact play on the doubles side. These fall tournaments offer a situation in which teams may change doubles pairs from tournament to tournament.
“We’ve seen some positive pairs,” Guilbeau said. “Pairing upper-class with a first-year seemed to trigger some real progress.”
The larger burden of Virginia’s performance this year, however, will remain on the three returning players, junior Jennifer Stevens, senior Amanda Rales and senior Maggie Yahner.
Stevens is the highest ranked Cavalier, at No. 68 in the nation. In the Georgia Invitational, Stevens won all of her singles matches, including a quality win against No. 47 Nina Munch-Soegaard of Texas Christian.
“Even though I won my matches, I still hope I play better than last weekend,” Stevens said. “I have some things I’m working on this week, and hopefully I will get them down before the tournament.”
Rales, a team captain, is also ranked in nationally at No. 106. She had a key performance last weekend as well by defeating No. 95 Anna Sydorska, also of TCU.
The U.Va. Invitational is a chance for players to concentrate on playing competitive matches and getting quality wins. Like all fall tournaments, this weekend’s matches will be more individually based. Even though everything Virginia does has an impact on the team, the fall season allows athletes to focus on their own games, working toward their individual goals of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in the spring season.
“I really want to make NCAA singles this year,” Stevens said. “If I can keep the fall up, I have a pretty good shot of making it.”
Play this weekend will only advance the athletes’ skill, which they can then carry over to the spring.
“All of the players are working towards having a great fall individually,” Guilbeau said. “We are very motivated and excited to play this weekend at home in front of our fans.”
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