All eight members of the Virginia women's tennis team have earned spots at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Atlantic Regional tournament, which begins today in Blacksburg. The best players in the region will compete for a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships.
"The regional is limited usually, but the committee tried to open up the draw and make them big enough so that most schools could get a majority of their players in," Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said. "The first-round losers will get a backdraw and the second-round losers will get a backdraw so ideally everyone's going to get three matches."
Sophomore Lindsey Hardenbergh and freshman Erin Vierra are entering this week's competition, the team's fourth tournament of the year, on a high note after winning the Flight A doubles bracket at the UK Fall Invitational in Kentucky Oct. 11.
"[Erin] is a great doubles player, she really knows what to do with the ball," Hardenbergh said. "I think we complement each other very well; we're both very high energy and we're both able to set each other up and finish each other, so it's definitely a relief having a net player up there who you know is going to put away the ball."
Guilbeau is just as enthusiastic about the talent and skill the pair shares.
"The performance by Lindsey and Erin [in Kentucky] was as close to perfect as you can get," Guilbeau said. "They played a great final match and everyone on the team did a really good job."
The Cavaliers' fall season success has been a pleasant surprise. The regional tournament will provide a change of pace as Virginia will encounter elements it hasn't faced yet this season - the first and foremost of which is indoor courts.
"Outside courts are typically slower, so the surface grabs serve and the ball will bounce," Hardenbergh said. "It'll have more action, more spin on the ball. So when you're indoors, because it skids more, you hit flat down the T or slice and the ball skids off the court more."
Hardenbergh said the team is confident that the transition indoors will be a smooth one. Playing in Charlottesville has allowed the team to hone its ability to practice both indoor and outdoor tennis at the Boyd Tinsley courts and the Snyder Tennis Center, respectively.
"[Indoors,] everything's got to be a little smaller, a little quicker, a little lower, maybe so that you can handle the speed of things," Guilbeau said.
The bracket system used at the ITA Atlantic Regional also varies from the majority of tournaments the team attends, as one loss practically equals an elimination.
"Probably the biggest adjustment is that the regional tends to be more of an elimination-type tournament,"
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