While many students flocked to warmer pastures over Spring Break, the women’s tennis team could be found late at night smacking tennis balls inside Freeman.
The team hopes to rebound from a disappointing fall campaign when they suffered through a brutal schedule. All seven of their opponents last semester were ranked in the top fifteen in the East. However, the team showed marked improvement over the course of the season, tying #13 Trinity College and barely falling at #6 Bowdoin College. The Cardinals then capped the season with an impressive 10th place finish in the New England Division III Tournament. The difficult fall schedule should pay dividends this spring.
“The fall season gives the team a lot of good experience that is especially helpful to the underclassmen that are new to college tennis,” said captain Ashley Brick ’05. “The spring season is also usually much more successful than the fall season due to the fact that we get to have a preseason.”
“Our goal is to win every match,” said Sarah Connell ’05. “The spring season will prove more successful than the fall.”
The team will be led by the two seniors, Brick and Connell. The Cardinals also have a young nucleus of proven winners that will be a solid foundation for next year’s crop of recruits. Susannah Ragab ’06, Victoria Santoro ’07, Leah Katz ’07, and Rika Tsuchiya ’06 provide a rock-solid starting lineup. Ragab notched a team-leading three victories during the fall season. A pair of rapidly improving freshman, Emma Allison and Buu Gichohi, provides the team with sorely needed depth. Brick will be manning the number one seed for the first time in her sterling four-year career, but the order of the starting lineup has not yet been determined.
“Although we have a young team, I’m thrilled with the senior leadership demonstrated by Sarah and Ashley,” said coach Ken Alrutz.
The team suffered off-season setbacks with the loss of former number one seed Tiffany Lo ’05 and doubles specialist Megan Henderson ’06, but they have compensated by raising the intensity both on and off the court.
“I am especially pleased with the on-court aggressiveness displayed by the team during spring practices,” Altrutz said.
In addition to the newfound intensity on the court, the Cardinals have been working just as hard off the court. Alrutz stresses an intense weight-training regimen, and the Cardinals have responded.
“[Several teammates have] been hitting the weights hardcore,” Connell said. “I’ve been doing a lot of lifting myself. I’ve gotten really into squat thrusts and balancing on those big yellow balls.”
The women’s tennis team kicks off the season with a home match against Bentley College. The Falcons are coached by Alex “Wheelchair” Wong ’03, a former All-NESCAC tennis player. Wong was a four-year starter as the number one seed for the Cardinals. The chance to battle against the enigmatic Wong adds an extra element of intrigue to the match.
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