“Be focused, be determined, and play with confidence.”
This mantra, coined by women’s tennis head coach Ilene Weintraub, embodies the mindset that she would like to see her young team adopt for the rest of its spring season.
Last weekend, Columbia squared off against Long Island University and came away with a 7-0 sweep. At No. 1 singles, sophomore Stephanie Zilberman was locked in a tight match with Selma Babic. Zilberman dropped the first set, but roared back to take the second. In the third-set tiebreak, Zilberman was down 7-3 but came back to win seven of the last eight points, ending her match victoriously. Zilberman took an injury timeout after the first set to have her knee taped.
“The highlight of the LIU match was Stephanie’s match,” Weintraub said. “She demonstrated what I think everyone on the team needs to realize. She was focused throughout that match and was determined and played with confidence. I think if you do this, you can prevail.”
The head coach’s mantra is applicable to the Lions in all situations.
“No matter who we play,” Weintraub said, “no matter their history, ranking, whether they are weak or better, if we consistently play with confidence, determination, and focus, we can succeed.”
This weekend, Columbia will travel to West Point to play University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and will then return home to face Boston University.
Last season, the Lions defeated the Minutemen 5-2 at home, by getting wins at No. 2 through No. 5 singles. This season, the Minutemen are 4-4 including a recent 5-2 defeat at the hands of Dartmouth. The team enters with a three-match losing streak, including a 6-1 loss to Syracuse and a 7-0 loss to Iowa State.
“UMass is a team that plays well at home,” Weintraub said, “but we are playing at a neutral site, since they were nice enough to meet us halfway.”
Columbia will then return home to play against BU, with the team hoping to get revenge for a 7-0 defeat last season. The Terriers, 5-1 on the spring season, suffered their only loss of the season against Brown by a 4-3 margin.
“BU is a very strong team,” Weintraub said. “They beat Dartmouth 5-2, and they have two very strong players at the top. Their No. 2 girl is a freshmen who was top ten in the nation. But this gives our girls a lot of opportunity for big wins.”
This spring, the Lions have had two different players play No. 1 singles, Zilberman and Natasha Makarova. Both are sophomores, and Weintraub believes that having two No. 1 players affords the Lions a lot of variety and options.
“It’s a privilege to play No. 1 singles,” Weintraub said, “but is also physically demanding. Both can step in and are almost equal in ability, and this allows the two of them to share the physical demand of playing No. 1.”
Columbia will travel to play UMass on Saturday and then will return home to face BU on Sunday at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center. The Saturday match is at 9 a.m. and the Sunday match is scheduled for 1 p.m.