Jan. 19, 2011
After advancing to the NCAA tournament for the 16th consecutive year last season, the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team has higher hopes as the spring season is just around the corner.
With strong performances at the fall tournaments, head coach Geoff Macdonald is confident about his team in the upcoming dual schedule.
“If there’s a goal for this season, it’s to be ranked in the top 10,” said Macdonald. “The main focus is for the team to be doing the right things and working hard. If the process is right, everything else comes along.”
Just two seniors graduated from the 2010 team that posted a 14-10 overall record and a 7-4 mark in conference play. While the graduated Catherine Newman and Hannah Blatt combined for 21 wins during the dual season, the Commodores return a wealth of talent who will have no trouble filling the void.
“We’re surprisingly not a young team,” commented Macdonald. “We actually have a lot of experience and I feel like our leadership is good. Between singles and doubles, we are a very solid team. I don’t feel like there’s a weak spot in any of the positions.”
Seniors Rachael Dillon and Keilly Ulery will provide talent and the senior leadership that Macdonald believes is important to the success of the team. Dillon, a Dublin, Ireland native, captured the David Lloyd National Indoor Championship in her home country last month. In the fall, Dillon posted a 7-5 record in singles play and contributed to 13 wins in doubles action. Ulery did not play in any doubles matches in the fall, but posted a 5-2 record in singles play.
The junior class of Megan Gornet, Chelsea Preeg, Erica Robertson and Jackie Wu was responsible for 33 of the Commodores 75 singles victories this fall. Preeg led the team with 12 victories, including several wins over SEC opponents. Wu, who posted a 23-7 record during her sophomore year, has been selected for the NCAA singles tournament each of the past two seasons. She hopes to make it three in a row by continuing the success she found in the fall.
Newcomers Alex Leatu, Lauren Mira and Nelly Radeva wasted no time getting acclimated to the rigors of SEC play in the fall. Leatu posted a 7-3 record in fall tournaments, while Mira tallied 11 wins in her first semester of collegiate play.
“Alex and Lauren are as good a freshman class as I can ever remember having,” Macdonald said. “They’re working really hard and contributing right away. We’ll see how they hold up through the spring, but I’m confident they’ll hold up really well.”
Radeva, a sophomore transfer from Cal, settled in as she got more into the fall season. After beginning the tournament season with three consecutive losses at the SEC Fall Coaches Classic, Radeva posted a 12-4 record through the remainder of the fall.
“Nelly has gotten steadily better through the fall,” noted Macdonald. “From the first tournament of the year through the end of the season, she got a lot of confidence and improved by a lot.” In the latest Campbell’s/ITA College Tennis rankings, Vanderbilt opens the spring season one spot higher than the team closed out 2010. At No. 26, the Commodores are the seventh highest ranked team from the SEC. The Commodores have five singles players and four doubles pairs ranked in the Top 125. Leatu leads the ‘Dores at No. 50, Dillon is No. 60 and Wu stands at No. 83. Preeg holds the No. 89 ranking and Mira begins her freshman season at No. 119.
In doubles, the pair of Leatu and Dillon are No. 20, while Mira and Erica Robertson are No. 23. Also ranked are the pair of Preeg and Mira at No. 41 and Preeg and Wu at No. 53.
While the Commodores play in arguably one of the best tennis conferences in the nation, Macdonald always schedules a tough non-conference slate for his teams. Vanderbilt opens up the spring against No. 9 Northwestern and will face other highly ranked teams in Notre Dame (No. 4), Georgia Tech (16), Michigan (8) and Princeton (37). The ‘Dores could face No. 11 Clemson in the second round of the ITA Indoor Kickoff regional later this month. In all, 17 of Vanderbilt’s 20 opponents are ranked in the Top 75 at the beginning of the season.
“Your goal is always to get better throughout the year,” said Macdonald. “We have to get so battle-hardened that by the time we get to the SEC schedule, we know what really tough matches are like.”
With the season opening Friday afternoon at home, the Commodores are looking forward to getting into dual match play and seeing where this season takes them.
“I am very excited about how solid a team we are. I’m very pleased with how hard they worked in the fall and I think the team is very excited about playing Northwestern and then going to the indoor regional qualifier.”
