| SPORTS
| OCTOBER 26, 2005
Women’s Tennis
ITA Regionals wraps up fall season
Women’s tennis team now
heads into practice for spring season.
By Kevin
Bueker
The Shorthorn sports editor
With its fall roster comprised of only four players, the women’s
tennis team was just looking to hold its own.
But, after concluding their fall season with the ITA Regionals,
the women did that and more.
Handicapped by injuries and ineligibility, the Mavs took the opportunities
they had and ran with them, head coach Christian Wassmer said.
“We’re very talented, but we were shorthanded,”
he said. “I think we did a good job with what we had to work
with.”
The squad had several highlights in its warmup for the spring season.
Freshman Klara Jagosova left her pro career in the Czech Republic
to lead the Mavs this fall. Despite not having experience on hard
courts or playing under collegiate rules, she paced the Mavs in
each of their four tournaments.
At the Mean Green Invitational, Jagosova won the flight A singles
draw. She followed that performance with two wins at the Midland
Racquet Club Invitational and a quarterfinals finish at the regionals.
“Klara had an outstanding fall,” Wassmer said. “She’s
done a good job of adjusting.”
Junior Monika Peciulionyte also found success, albeit with a lot
more pain. She battled a reoccurring back injury through most of
the fall. Wassmer said the injury kept Peciulionyte from playing
to her full potential.
“She is struggling with her back,” he said. “It’ll
be easier in the team season since we’ll have a whole week
off [between matches]. Right now, it’s just not possible for
her to keep playing.”
The play of Anete Rozkalne was a pleasant surprise for Wassmer.
He said her play has been overshadowed by tough opponents, but the
senior is playing much better as an individual than in previous
years.
“She’s done really well,” he said. “She’s
compiled a bunch of losses, but sometimes it’s more about
who you play.”
Rozkalne won two titles at the Mean Green Invitational; the flight
B singles draw and the doubles draw with teammate Marissa Brown.
Brown, a transfer from Tyler Junior College, has shown the ability
to compete on the division 1 level, but lacks one thing, Wassmer
said.
“Marissa needs to learn what I call intangibles,” he
said. “She has all the tools, but she is too nice on the court.”
Without the luxury of having officials in collegiate matches, players
call their own shots. Wassmer said Brown has a tendency to call
her opponents’ shots favorably and put herself at a disadvantage.
The coach said he expects continued development from his quartet
of netters, but hopes for a boost with the addition of three players
for the spring.
Junior Daniela Novakova will return from academic ineligibility
and Simri van Rooyen, who has been in rehab from a nagging injury,
is expected to be healthy again.
Wassmer also said he has the inside track on signing another player
for the fall, but has not received an official commitment yet.
He said the increased depth will make things much easier next semester.
“There is help coming,” he said. “We’re
so talented, but there are a lot of factors going on to determine
if we’ll have a successful team season.”
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