Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams arrived at the Wilson/ITA Northeast regionals this past weekend with victory on the brain.
The women headed to Hanover, N.H., with a four-player squad for the tournament comprised of senior captain Kasia Prenata, classmate Nisha Suda and sophomores Elizabeth Googe and Tamara John.
Coming off of strong finishes at both the USAFA Invitational and Mock Duals, Suda had no doubt that she and her teammates were ready for the competition.
[img_assist|nid=19154|title=High Fife|desc=Freshman Jonathan Fife, pictured above at the Fall Invitational, won two matches at regionals this past weekend. (Trevor Vieweg / Sun Contributor)|link=popup|align=right|width=77|height=100]
“We were all feeling pretty confident,” Suda said. “It was really great that four of us got in the tournament.”
Their confidence paid off, as both Suda and Prenata advanced through the qualifiers into the main draw. Suda advanced through the first round of the main draw only to be beaten in the second, 6-2, 6-0, while Prenata prevailed through the first two rounds, including an impressive comeback win in the opening round, but fell to the No. 3 seed, William and Mary’s Katarina Zoricic, 6-1, 6-0. The players’ note-worthy performance fulfilled head coach Laura Glitz’s expectations and then some.
“Our goal was to get somebody through the qualifier, which we did,” Glitz said. “These are the best results we’ve had at regionals in the three years I’ve been coaching.”
Glitz’s pride was also shared by Suda, who recognized the progress made by the team and Glitz.
“When we go in, all Laura really asks is for us to play hard, and everyone fought really hard,” Suda said. “It’s good that we can all go out there and fight and show how much this team has developed in the three years Laura has been here.”
The women’s team didn’t stand alone in its success this weekend, as the men headed to Penn with its own set of expectations for regionals.
“We felt fairly confident,” said senior tri-captain Dan Brous. “We wanted to go out and get as far as we could. You play your best tennis and hopefully come out with a win.”
And win the men did. Brous advanced through four rounds of the singles main draw only to be defeated in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. As for his teammates, senior tri-captain Josh Raff advanced through two rounds of the main singles draw, and both senior tri-captain Nick Brunner and freshman Jonathan Fife advanced one round each.
In doubles, Brunner and Raff won three rounds of the main draw only to be defeated, 8-3, in the fourth round, narrowly missing the semfinals. Brous and junior Rory Heggie succeeded as well, advancing into the third round before, losing 8-5.
Overall, the team was pleased with its success, and Brous considers the recent achievements a good indicator of accomplishments to come.
“[The recent success at regionals] definitely will help me out,” Brous said, “I have a lot more confidence going into other matches.”
The men will return to the familiar grounds of Reis Tennis Center for the Cornell Fall Indoor Invitational this weekend and the women finish up their fall season at the Penn State Mock Duals to be held two weekends from now.