Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams hope that their strong regular season finishes will fuel deep runs into their respective conference tournaments. Play begins Friday as the women head to Pittsburgh for the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
After getting off to a tough start this season, the women’s team has won six of their last seven matches and finished the season at 10-10.
“This has been our toughest season ever competition-wise,” Head Coach Jonathan Zych said. “But they really played hard, stuck with it and didn’t panic. It was those really hard, early matches that taught them to fight.”
The lady Billikens will be seeded No. 8 going into the tournament and face George Washington in the first round on Friday morning.
“We’re all really confident going in. George Washington will be a challenge but I know we can win,” Senior Joe Becker said.
If the Billikens do win that first match, they would take on the top seeded Richmond Spiders that afternoon. Richmond (14-5) has captured five of the last seven A-10 titles.
Sophomore Kasia Tomalak feels good about the team’s chances.
“The whole first part of the season was preparation for this. We’re much more confident now; we know we can win the tough matches.”
Zych shares in his team’s confidence.
“I like the way we’re playing, and the Atlantic-10 is very even this year.”
Zych believes the Billikens can gain an advantage from their strong doubles play and the match experience they gained from a very challenging schedule.
The women’s tournament is being held at Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Penn. It is scheduled from Friday April 17 to Sunday April 19. The men’s tournament will be held next weekend at the same site, beginning April 24.
The men’s team (13-5) finished the regular season last Wednesday, April 8, with a victory at home over Missouri Baptist. The win was the team’s sixth in a row. After a strong regular season, the men’s tennis team expects to be rewarded in the conference tournament.
“We should be either the 3 or the 4 seed, I would be really surprised if they gave us a five,” Zych said.
“The biggest thing we need to worry about is staying match-ready. We have a pretty big layover from our last match to the start of the tournament,” Zych said.
“The layover also gives us a chance to rest up and come prepared though; it’s all about how you look at it. It doesn’t have to be a negative thing,” Zych said.
The seeds for the Atlantic-10 men’s tournament will be announced on April 20.
