Sixteen of the finest teams in women’s tennis clash this weekend in one of the premier tournaments of the year at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville. The No. 9 Virginia women’s tennis team comes in with excitement, expectations and memories as it competes on its home court in the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship.
“It’s critical to your season,” Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said of the tournament. “I think all teams would say that. It’s one of the two team national championships we have, and it’s an incredible experience.”
Virginia (5-0, 2-0 ACC) hosts the prestigious tournament for the second year in a row. In last year’s tournament, the Cavaliers entered as the lowest-ranked team but were able to score a huge upset against No. 3 Baylor in the first round. Despite a second-round loss to Duke, the team finished the weekend with a win against Northwestern.
Guilbeau hopes Virginia’s 2011 experience will pay dividends in this year’s tournament.
“I was so proud, not just in the first match against Baylor — that was an incredible accomplishment — but to come back and play a great match against Duke, even though we lost, and then to follow it up with one of our best matches of the whole year against Northwestern,” Guilbeau said. “It’s good information for the team to know that they can stick with it through this tournament. We can play three, four days in a row if we’re fortunate, and be strong at the end.”
The top-ten-ranked Cavaliers won’t be surprising anyone this year. With the confidence of a lofty ranking also comes high expectations, and the team knows it.
“It definitely puts pressure on us,” junior Hana Tomljanovic said. “I think we’re just going to go out there and play the best we can, and hopefully the end result will be great.”
Five rival powerhouses from the ACC — UNC, Duke, Miami, Georgia Tech and Clemson — could challenge the Cavaliers this weekend. Virginia has dual matches against all five of the teams later in the season.
“I think we’ve played them a lot of times, so we know their strengths and weaknesses,” Tomljanovic said. “But it’s definitely good for them to be here, so we can see what shape they’re in, and have a little picture of what we’ll be playing.”
The excitement of the fans and the nuances of the familiar courts give a huge boost to the Cavaliers as they look to make an impression on the national stage with the tournament providing a crucial scouting opportunity.
“There’s every advantage: our fans, being here in a comfortable environment, being familiar with the courts,” Guilbeau said. “I can’t even do justice to what it means to our program to have this tournament, and for all the people that have helped to make it possible.”