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Women’s
tennis travels confidently to WAC tourney Head women’s tennis coach Roland Ingram said he doesn’t want to compare last year’s Western Athletic Conference championship-winning team to this year’s, but he does make the connection that this year’s squad can successfully defend the WAC crown. “These women will be bright-eyed and have their hair bushy-tailed and be ready to go,” Ingram said. “They are going to win the WAC by going out and playing like they have nothing to lose.” The Frogs, who enter the tournament as the second-seeded team, will play against the seventh-seeded Rice Owls Friday at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center at Fresno State.
Junior Leoni Weirich, who is one of two players remaining from last year’s team, said she thinks they will win the tournament. “We are currently in great shape,” she said. “Everyone is doing all the little things and playing every match with the notion of winning. Since the beginning of the season, we have played without any expectations, but at this point in the season, we need the expectation to win this tournament.“We are very motivated to bring the WAC trophy back here, and it would be even better if we win it for the second straight year, especially with this being our last year in the WAC,” Weirich said. Freshman Patricia Aburto, who is ranked 66th in the nation with a 24-4 record, said she has prepared extensively for the tournament. “Coach has been training us all year for the WAC and NCAA tournaments,” Aburto said. “Lately, I have tried to play one notch better, and it has paid off because I am going to play at the No. 2 spot. We have been having shorter practices, but they have been intense and hard.” Even though TCU defeated Rice March 29, 6-1, Ingram said he doesn’t want that victory to be a measuring stick. “(Rice is) a solid team who can sneak up on anyone,” Ingram said. “I have been trying to tell this team that (Rice’s) record is very misleading, and we should not look past them.” Weirich said Rice is a team that can’t be overlooked in the regular season or at the conference tournament.
“You can never expect too little from a team, especially Rice,”
she said. “They run down a lot of balls and play with a lot
of fire.” “Not only do we want to win the tournament for ourselves, but the most important thing is to win it for (Ingram),” Weirich said. “This would be great for coach, because he deserves it for all the years he has been in the WAC.” Ingram recorded his 300th career victory earlier this season. If the Frogs advance to the quarterfinal round, they will play the winner of the third-seeded Tulsa and sixth-seeded Texas-El Paso match at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Ram Luthra |
