Spring Season
Youth, Veterans Team Up for Tennis
Teams set high goals for 2008 season.
By Ryan Whirty
Coming off strong individual and team performances during last fall’s season, the Yellowjacket men’s and women’s tennis teams are looking forward to the start of the spring 2008 season.
“We’re excited,” says Anna Khvalina, the head coach of both teams. “Judging by the results we had in the fall and hard work in the off-season, we’re looking for good seasons from both teams.”
The women’s squad enters the season, which kicked off in late February, with a balanced mix of experienced veterans and potential-laden freshmen. Khvalina says that the crop of newcomers can help the squad’s upperclassmen finish their collegiate careers on a high note.
“We want to make sure the seniors have the best season they’ve had here,” she says.
RACKET CLUB: Brian Bowman ’10, Alexa Perry ’08, Ryan Kovaleski ’11, and Colleen Cross ’08 are expected to help lead the Yellowjackets this year.
That senior class is led by Colleen Cross ’08, a Wisconsin native who has provided crucial leadership over her four years, leadership that included playing No. 1 singles at times. Like her coach, Cross sees possibilities in 2008.
“We definitely have the most potential to do the best we have in conference play in my four years here,” she says.
Also providing senior stability will be Alexa Perry ’08, who has also played No. 1 singles in the past and will be counted on in both singles and doubles this season.
Leading the talented freshman class is Florida native Lia Weiner ’11, who played exceptionally well at No. 1 singles in the fall. In September, she advanced to the title match of the New York State championships and made it to the quarterfinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional championships.
In addition, Weiner teamed with both Perry and fellow freshman Elana Polivy ’11 to find doubles success in the fall as well. Weiner and Perry advanced to the semis of the ITA regionals, while Weiner and Polivy made it to the semis at States.
Also expected to do well in the spring is freshman Diane Samuels ’11. Kvhalina says the Yellowjacket women’s formidable blend of experience and youth will be key in the spring.
“We have a lot of depth on the women’s side,” she says.
The men’s squad will also take on a youthful look, with the doubles team of sophomore Brian Bowman ’10 and freshman Ryan Kovaleski ’11 leading the charge. The pair won the flight A doubles competition at the St. Lawrence Fall Men’s Tennis Classic in September and earned runner-up status at the ITA regionals. They’re slated at No. 1 doubles heading into the spring.
“That’s a tough position for a young doubles team,” says Khvalina, “but they’re looking forward to it.”
Bowman also will most likely play No. 1 singles for the Yellowjackets.
The squads are ultimately eyeing the UAA championships in April with the goal of improving on last year’s conference finishes. The Rochester men fell to Emory University in the quarterfinals in 2007, while the Yellowjacket women came in seventh.
Cross says it will be hard to crack the top three at the conference championships, with nationally ranked Emory, Washington, and Carnegie-Mellon at the top of the heap. But Cross thinks placing in the upper half of the conference is a possibility.
“We have a really good shot,” she says. “I think we’ll definitely be competitive. I want to do the best we ever have in the conference, and I think we can do that.”
But Cross has even higher goals for her senior career: She hopes the Yellowjackets can do well enough regionally to earn a trip to the NCAA Division III championships, slated for Flushing Meadows in May.
She says playing at the home of the U.S. Open would be an incredible finish for her. To accomplish that, the Yellowjackets need to strengthen their doubles tandems by mixing veterans with freshmen and pulling together as a team.
“We’re definitely good enough,” she says. “As long as we execute and do in matches what we’ve been doing in practice, we can do it.”
Ryan Whirty writes about sports for Rochester Review.
