Still early in the season, the Columbia women’s tennis team is looking to salvage its record after a heartbreaking loss to St. John’s last Sunday. This weekend, the Light Blue will play back-to-back home matches against Stony Brook and Fairleigh Dickinson. Head coach Ilene Weintraub has been motivating the team for the tough upcoming matches.
“I’ve just been telling the team not to underestimate any opponents,” Weintraub said.
In addition to maintaining that mindset, the Lions are also shifting the focus of their play. Weintraub was pleased with the level of doubles play on Sunday, and has since been able to work on other aspects of the game with the team to prepare for the weekend matches.
“Going into the St. John’s match, I was emphasizing doubles,” she said. “This past week, I have been focusing the team on singles. We have been working on patterns, consistency, and defense.”
One player in particular has proven herself ready for the tough two matches to come. Junior captain and No. 2 singles player Natasha Makarova had an inspiring win last weekend against St. John’s. She was able to recover from an early loss of 2-6 to defeat her opponent in the second and third sets, 6-3, 6-2.
“Natasha is one of the hardest-working players I’ve ever coached,” Weintraub said. “She’s a really strong leader and sets a tremendous example for the younger girls.”
The team must also prepare to avoid the types of losses that occurred last week. In the match against St. John’s, sophomore No. 4 singles player Eliza Matache suffered a disheartening loss. She won the first set 6-3, but was unfortunately unable to seal the win, and lost the second and third sets, 1-6, 1-6.
“Eliza’s loss was really disappointing,” Weintraub said.
But the disappointing loss will not stop Matache from fighting to recover this weekend. She has been working on her game during practice this week and is hoping to bounce back during these next two matches. Weintraub has been helping her along the way.
“In the last match, she got tired,” Weintraub said. “I told her that she needs to use the momentum for her teammates to win in the future.”
Teamwork will be the biggest asset to the Lions in these upcoming matches. The team is a close and motivated one that is prepared to reverse the early record. This weekend the Lions are on their home turf in the tennis bubble at Baker Field.
First up is Stony Brook, which hasn’t yet opened its spring season. Stony Brook is led by sophomore Katherine Hanson, who ranked as high as No. 70 in the nation and went 11-10 overall in her 2009 spring season. Weintraub is confident that the No. 1 singles matchup, freshman Nicole Bartnik, will perform well, and has been helping her prepare for the match.
“It will be a close match,” Weintraub said.
On Saturday, Columbia is scheduled to play Fairleigh Dickinson, a currently undefeated team that had a huge 7-0 win last week. When asked if the Lions are going into the FDU match differently due to FDU’s current record, Weintraub seemed confident in her strategy.
“We take one match at a time,” she said. “We’re motivated to break their winning streak.”
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