Sept. 8, 2011
Experience counts for a great deal, and the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team has plenty of it this season. Headed by coach Geoff Macdonald, now in his 17th year as head coach for the Commodores, the veteran team returns seven of their nine players, with two talented freshmen joining the crew.
Jackie Wu, Chelsea Preeg, and Megan Gornet enter their senior seasons with junior Nelly Radeva and sophomores Lauren Mira and Alex Leatu after the team posted a 17-9 season last year. They went to the NCAA Championships before eventually losing to No. 4 UNC in the Sweet 16.
“We won an enormous number of close matches,” said Macdonald, of the 2010-2011 season. “We started the year with a 4-3 win, we won an NCAA regional 4-3, we won a quarterfinal in the SEC 4-3, all down to the last match. It was a great. We did a really good job.”
Leatu, who played in the No. 1 spot for most of the season last year, was named to the All-SEC second team as well as ITA Ohio Valley Region Player to Watch after finishing with an 18-16 record for her freshman season. Macdonald expects this season to be better than last, based on the developmental jump typically seen from freshman to sophomore year.
“First year of college is always a tough adjustment year,” Macdonald said. “If [Leatu] can come in a little bit more like a veteran from last year, she could become a really, really good player.”
Preeg posted an 11-match win-streak as she went on to have a 12-3 singles season, with a team-best 7-3 mark in conference play. Wu, a two-time NCAA singles qualifier, looks to step up her play after recovering from hip surgery that had slowed her down last year to a 19-13 overall record. And Radeva, who clinched several key matches last year, will be another key to this year’s team.
“Nelly Radeva has trained really hard,” said Macdonald. “She is a junior who we think is going to contribute a lot this year.”
Add in the talent of freshmen Ashleigh Antal and Marie Casares, and this season looks to be at least as successful as last.
“Ashleigh Antal I think is ranked around 40 in the country,” said Macdonald. “She’s now in an environment where she’s going to play a lot and train a lot. She has a lot of ability, and she could develop into a very, very good player.
“Marie Casares is already a world class player,” Macdonald continued. “We’re thrilled to have her here, too. She’s going to be right in the mix with a whole other group to play at the top or close to it.”
Casares has competed in three Grand Slams, including Wimbledon, the French Open, and most recently, the US Open, where she won her first Grand Slam match.
Together, the team looks to get back to the Sweet 16–and beyond–after slipping into the top-20s after a fifteen-year stint in the top-15. They start their season September 23rd at the Furman Classic.
