Collegiate Times

With eight Atlantic Coast Conference matches remaining in the regular season, the Virginia Tech women’s tennis team (9-7, 1-2 ACC) is hungry for wins after its losing record during the 2009-10 campaign (10-13, 2-9 ACC).

“We haven’t been to NCAAs yet and I think as a team that’s our biggest goal,” said junior Martha Blakely. “We’d like to finish higher in the ACC. We have so much talent on this team and in the past few years I don’t think our talent has shown in our results.”

Blakely, who currently has a 21-9 singles match record, has shown drastic improvement from her 9-26 record last year.

“Over the summer I played a lot of tournaments, I was in Blacksburg all summer, I trained with my coach,” Blakely said. “I made tennis a first priority.” 

Like Blakely, the entire Hokies team has been focusing to make this year more successful than the past. This fall the team showed some of their strides, as senior Holly Johnson and Blakely won the UNCW Invitational doubles tournament. Additionally, Blakely made it to the USTA/ITA Atlantic Regional semifinals and Johnson, and senior Yasmin Hamza finished the fall 7-2 in doubles.

Though the Hokies are currently 9-7, they’ve suffered a few defeats in close matches, such as a 4-3 loss to Boston College (7-6, 2-1 ACC) in February.  

“We’ve had a lot of good wins and a lot of really close losses,” said Terry Ann Zawacki-Woods, head coach. “We’re looking to keep learning from those losses, really enjoy the wins, and get ready for the next match.”

In addition to support from Zawacki-Woods, seniors Hamza and Johnson are providing encouragement and leadership to their team, just as they did last season when there were no seniors.

“I definitely had to step up last year,” Johnson said. “It’s been a good experience for me because I’m not a very extroverted type of person, so it’s been good for me to have to step up and go into a leadership position.”

“I’m really proud of Hamza, playing No. 1 for us right now,” Zawacki-Woods said. “She’s doing a great job, both in singles and doubles for us.”

Blakely noted what is most impressive about this year’s team, is the fight they show on the court.

“When you’re watching someone play a match, you know they’re not just going to give up,” Blakely said. “They’re going to figuratively die on the court. They’ll go for every ball. That’s a big thing. Even when you’re not playing your best, your fight is what brings you through matches.”

Saturday, the Hokies go up against Florida State (6-5) at 10:30 a.m. at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center.

Following the Florida State match, the Hokies will immediately be challenged by three nationally ranked teams, including No. 6 Miami, No. 4 Duke, and No. 3 North Carolina.

“When it comes time for that big point to be played, I just want the girls to understand what they’re capable of doing and letting their games handle the points for themselves,” Zawacki-Woods said.

A version of this article appeared in the Mar 25 issue of the Collegiate Times.