It is not easy playing in the best conference in the nation, and the Spartan women’s tennis team has learned that the hard way. While it is still relatively early in the season, the ladies from UT are off to a 2-5 start overall and 1-5 in Sunshine State Conference (SSC) play.
Despite this rough start, they have still been able to maintain an impressive top 25 national ranking (they are currently sitting at No.23).
Although it may seem odd that a team with a losing record can be ranked so high, it is mainly because all five of its losses have come against teams ranked higher than the Spartans. This just shows how difficult it is to play in the SSC.
Head Coach Al DuFaux is no stranger to the rigors of the SSC, having been in charge of this team for 15 years.
“There are nine schools in the conference, and eight out of nine are in the top 25. Five are in the top 10. It’s the toughest conference in the nation. In any other state, we would probably be conference champions,” DuFaux said.
To prepare for such a tough schedule, DuFaux spoke about how hard the Spartans trained during the off season.
“They were in the weight room two times a week,” DuFaux said. “They had a strength and conditioning coach from the health sciences department. They went through a nutrition program, four weeks long. They also went through physical testing with Dr. Jacob Wilson from health sciences. They also had to do the normal things, practice, tournaments.”
Kelsey Matthews, a junior who transferred to UT last year from the University of Indianapolis, said, “[The conference is] definitely difficult. At my last school it wasn’t so difficult.”
Meg Wladimirski, a junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, hopes that her team can gain a lot from playing in such a difficult conference.
“It is very tough, but it is something that keeps you motivated,” Wladimirski said.
Wladimirski, who moved up from second to first singles this year to replace the injured Thashia Garcia, said she can feel the pressure of playing at the number one spot.
“It is a lot different than number two. I’m still trying to get used to it. It does give me motivation to work harder, but it is still a lot of pressure,” Wladimirski said.
Despite the rocky start, the ladies are determined to stay motivated and improve to do better for the rest of the season.
“So far, we played the hardest schools from our conference, but it was good to prepare us for the rest of the season,” Wladimirski continued.
“We need to improve our endurance on court and motivation in practice. I hope me and my doubles partner can get a better doubles ranking. And for the team, top 15.”
“We can improve on staying pumped in the matches we start down, fighting hard even if we’re down,” Matthews added. “[We should aim to] win the rest of our matches, to do well in the conference tournament. We have a lot to prove from last year.”
DeFaux is also confident that his team can do better the rest of the season. “Initially, we’re 23. We want to get to the top 20 and hopefully finish the year in the top 15,” DeFaux said.
The Spartans have their next ten home matches between now and April 1, so it should be interesting to see if they can improve on their less than stellar start over the course of the season.
Andrew Stamas can be reached at andrew.stamas@spartans.ut.edu.