Not even two weeks into the season, the No. 24 Virginia women's tennis team has already set a list of goals to accomplish during the coming months, hoping to capitalize on the program's first top-25 ranking since 1994.
"It's a long process, and if you can be one of those teams that gets better as the season goes along, you can certainly accomplish a lot," said coach Mark Guilbeau, who hopes the team may reach the top 16. "I'd love for our team to be competitive within the very top of the ACC and compete for a No. 1 seed in terms of hosting for NCAAs."
The Cavaliers enter the season with five individually ranked players, the most in school history. Sophomore Erin Vierra leads the way at No. 29 in the ITA's national rankings. She is accompanied by juniors Lindsey Hardenbergh (No. 56) and Emily Fraser (No. 88), as well as sophomores Hana Tomljanovic (No. 73) and Maria Fuccillo (No. 111).
"I definitely expect this to be the strongest team we've had since I've been here," Hardenbergh said. "Nothing is for free, but if we keep working hard ... I think we can push even further."
Virginia also possesses two of the nation's top 16 doubles tandems in Fraser-Tomljanovic (No. 10) and Fuccillo-Teltumbde (No. 16). Freshman Rashmi Teltumbde - an international student from India who dealt with problems regarding her visa during the fall season - is coming into her own after a recent string of strong performances in the ITA Atlantic Regional, U.Va. Winter Invitational and last weekend's doubleheader against Brown and Richmond.
"She almost didn't get here," Guilbeau said. "Her fall [semester] was really rough. [Rashmi has] handled herself like an absolute champ while she has been getting everything all sorted out."
Now that Teltumbde has adjusted from moving halfway around the world, she is eager to continue working on her game and hopes to play a bigger role for the team as the season progresses.
"I'd like to play higher in the lineup," Teltumbde said. "[The adjustment] was rough initially, but now I'm settling into it, and [my play] is getting much better."
Teltumbde - along with the Cavaliers' other four freshmen - will have to step up perhaps more so than they would in other years of the program, as the roster does not have many seasoned veterans. In fact, the squad has no seniors this year, meaning the team has begun to look to juniors Hardenbergh and Fraser for leadership.
"We only had one senior last year," Hardenbergh noted. "Emily, especially, has really taken the role of a leader, and I've followed her example."
Still, though, Fraser said the team is not suffering from a lack of know-how. And thus far, the Cavaliers have proven that they deserve the preseason recognition they received. Virginia dominated the field in the U.Va. Winter Invitational against LSU, Arkansas and Utah in its first competition since the fall season two weeks ago. Then last Saturday, the Cavaliers followed that performance with consecutive 7-0 triumphs against No. 62 Brown and Richmond.
Seeking to continue this success, the players will participate in their first conference match Saturday as they travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on No. 52 Wake Forest. The conference slate will undoubtedly test the Cavaliers, as they are set to face five opponents currently ranked ahead of them. Of those five matches, only one will take place in Charlottesville, adding to the difficulty that lies ahead for the team.
The Wake Forest matchup is set to begin at noon.
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