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
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