Mariko Fritz-Krockow is a junior transfer from UCLA and a member of the women's tennis team. She provided The Cavalier Daily with her notes from this past weekend's ITA Regional Championships held at Virginia Tech.
Friday, October 24, 2003
Regionals are here. This is a tournament, which awards the winners of the doubles and the finalists of the singles a spot in the National Indoors. The six of us that are here are all playing both singles and doubles and so all of us have a shot at the Nationals.
Today was the first day of the tournament. Since this is the qualifying tournament of National Indoor, this tournament is played indoors. This is shame because 1) the weather was really nice today and 2) there are so many more courts outside than inside. We are playing at Virginia Tech and they only have six indoor courts. So imagine how long it takes to get through a day of matches, which, in the first days of the tournament, gets to be about 60 to 70 matches. Well, the twins (Dora and Marta Bechliwanis) got to the courts at 6:45 a.m. and didn't get back to the hotel until 9:45 p.m. Lauren and my doubles match was supposed to start at 5:30 p.m., but we didn't actually get on the court until 8 p.m.!
Since this is Regionals, there are a wide variety of schools represented. One person that I ran into was my former assistant coach from UCLA. He is now the assistant coach at William & Mary. I had no idea that he was coaching there so you can imagine my surprise when I heard him call my name. It was awkward but also a little sad. I can't imagine what it's going to be like if I ever face my old team again. I mean, I was part of their team for two whole years, but now I belong at Virginia. I guess that this is a fear that all transfers have.
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Mait, our assistant coach, said it best today: "Today was the longest tennis day ever!" The first matches started at 8 in the morning. We got off the tennis courts at 11:30 at night. We had two singles and one doubles match. When I got off the court after my singles match at about 10 p.m. I was ready to crash, but I knew that there was another doubles to go. Toward the end of my doubles match, neither Lauren nor I could see the ball anymore. It was pure will that got us through the rest of it.
But tennis-wise, today's outcomes were really good. Kristen, Lauren and I all started the day in the singles draw, and at the end of the day (two matches later), all of us were still in. On the doubles side, however, we were not as successful. Both the twins and Kristen James and Shannon Stough lost their doubles matches. So now the pressure is on Lauren and I to keep the Virginia name in the doubles draw. Let's hope that we don't let the name down.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
Every time we go to a tennis tournament, is seems like days go by in the span of only a few hours. So things that may have seemed foreign when we got here seem totally normal already. Things like the hotel room, the long days -- even the lingering smell of cow manure that surrounds Virginia Tech -- have almost become second nature.
Can you believe that we were off the courts by 4:30 p.m. today? We were so happy to be away from the tennis courts so early. This early end to a day meant that we could go back to the hotel, take a shower and then go out to dinner and still be back at the hotel at 9 p.m. At 9 p.m. yesterday, I was finished my second out of three matches!
Today was a great day for Lauren and me. Together, we beat the No. 5 and No. 1 seeds in doubles and are now in the semi-finals. On the singles side, both of us scored upsets. Lauren defeated a player from VCU while I beat a player from Harvard. We were both very excited. Kristen, unfortunately, was not so lucky and lost her match.
Since Lauren and I are now the only ones left in the tournament, and since it's Sunday and there are classes tomorrow, the rest of the team drove home.Now, with Lauren and me sitting in our room, Lauren in her polka dot pajamas, we realize that with only the two of us here, it's kind of lonely.
As athletes, it's really hard to keep up with the readings for classes and usually, traveling only sets us more behind. But for some reason, this tournament has been extremely productive! Maybe it's because the players from Harvard, Yale and Penn are always sitting around with their books, and we feel that we have to set an example for all non-Ivy schools. Maybe there is just nothing better to do.
Monday, October 27, 2003
The tournament came to an abrupt end today. Lauren and I lost our singles and our doubles. It was very disorienting. It seemed like the tournament was just going on and on, but now we are rather suddenly out. To my disappointment, my quarterfinal singles match went by fairly quickly as I lost to a girl from Penn. Lauren's match on the other hand, lasted about two hours and 45 minutes against a player from Maryland. She made a tremendous comeback in the second set when she battled back and won the set after being down 2-5. Unfortunately, the third set didn't go as well and she lost it.
Following that, we lost our doubles to a Tech team. Since they were the host school, you can imagine the crowd that was there, cheering for them. Although we didn't let that faze us, we did end up losing. The fans were thrilled.
Since Lauren and I were the only ones there, the bus ride back to Charlottesville was very quiet. Counting the two coaches, there were four people in a charter bus fit for 50. The disappointment, disorientation and fatigue hit and made the trip even quieter. But what can you do? We had a great tournament, and it's only going to get better from here.
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