After only a few days worth of practices, the women”s tennis team will play in its first tournament today. This weekend, the Reis Tennis Center will be the site of the Cornell Fall Invitational, in which Army, Lehigh and Rutgers will compete along with Cornell.
The Red is looking to improve after a 6-10 (1-6 Ivy) season, with former Princeton assistant coach Laura Glitz replacing interim coach Tom Borwnlie “98. Glitz, who was an All-American at Arizona State and was ranked No. 1 nationally in the USTA women’s open singles in 1994, will work to develop the young, but experienced team.
‘We”re just trying to get each [player] better, and try to get them ready for the Ivy season,’ Glitz said. ‘Hopefully, we”ll keep improving.’
The Invitational is split into three flights, with Cornell sending players to each level. Slated to play Flight A singles are seniors Akane Kokubo and team captain Melissa Tu, junior Kara Maloy and sophomores Kasia Preneta and Nisha Suda.
Kokubo (14-12) was an All-Ivy second team selection for both singles and doubles. She was last year”s Invitational Flight A champion. Tu will look to improve on her 13-13 record from last season, and Glitz said her leadership will be invaluable to both herself and the rest of the players. In addition, helping out Glitz this fall will be former No. 1 singles star Laura Tallent “04 — the only player lost from last year”s squad.
While Maloy, who was 5-3 last year, hopes to take her game to the next level, Preneta, last year”s Flight B champion, and Suda, last year”s Flight C winner, will all hope to have a major impact this year.
‘I”m hoping we make the same kind of progress [as last year],’ Maloy said. ‘We have a lot of freshmen who are really strong, and a lot of returning players.’
Flight B will include two of those freshmen, Dana Cruite and Ashley Ebbert.
‘I”m really excited,’ Cruite said. ‘It”s a lot more tennis than I”m used to playing.’
Also cracking the Flight B lineup are sophomore Melanie Tu, and juniors Mollie Edinson, Jennifer Liu, and Liying Wang. Edinson will look to make an impact after suffering injuries the last two years and Wang, an excellent doubles player, will be vital to the Red”s success. Rounding out the Cornell lineup are freshman Weatherly Schwab and junior Jessica Wienstien, who will both compete in Flight C.
‘It”s the first tournament of the year,’ Glitz said. ‘The purpose of the tournament is to play a lot of matches and to get playing time in. I want to see everyone play.’
Cornell”s competition at the Invitational all had fine seasons last year. But Army (19-8, 5-0 Patriot), Lehigh (13-5, 3-2 Patriot) and Rutgers (13-7, 7-3 Big East) each have had very different off-seasons.
Army is coming off its best season ever, in which it went undefeated in the Patriot League. The team returns with three All-Patriot League honorees in senior captain Marrisa Limsiaco, junior Megan Noble and sophomore Ali del Moral.
Conversely, Lehigh is a young team, boasting five freshmen. Sophomore Gwen Dwyer (11-7) is the only team member with top flight experience while Rutgers returns with quality players such as senior Helen Magomedova (18-12) and Laura Edelschein (17-5).
Archived article by Josh Perlin
Sun Contributor