Two months of hard work payed off for the women’s tennis team. The Quakers end the fall ball season, which stretched from late August to fall break, with a winning record: their efforts in two tournaments have earned them dual second place finishes.
The first tournament, the Guilford Women’s Tennis Fall Invitational, was held on-campus Sept. 26. Guilford beat Randolph-Macon Women’s College and Ferrum College to finish behind Greensboro College.
The second tourney was held at Ferrum on Oct. 3. Guilford left defeated the home team and Salem College with a series of quick, decisive wins. The Quakers faltered in the closing rounds to finish second, behind Emory and Henry.
The pattern in both competitions showed Guilford easily winning the qualifying matches, and falling to other colleges only in high-pressure championship matches.
“I would say that we are just as skillful as most of the teams we play. Most matches come down to which team is mentally tougher,” said Coach Jenn Wolos, a 1996 alum.
Wolos is pleased with the outcome of the fall ball season. “I was very happy with the results,” she said. “(It) allowed the first-years to experience the difference from high school to college tennis, and to see what they need to work on before the spring season starts.”
Preparing the team for collegiate-level tennis has been especially important this year: of the seven players, five are first-year students.
Even though she played tennis throughout high-school, first-year player Sara Farrington described fall ball as “a wake-up call.”
“I think a lot of people don’t understand how stressful it is,” Farrington said. “Tournaments are exhausting.”
Beginning at 8 a.m. and lasting for nine hours, tourneys require each member of the team to play in two singles matches and two doubles matches. A match can last up to two hours.
As NCAA rules prevent team practices after the conculsion of the fall ball season, the team won’t meet for practice again until February. Their next game is in March.
Though fall ball is barely over, the team has already started preparing for the spring season. Coach Wolos has set an intense individual workout schedule for the team. Players also hold their own friendly matches on the courts outside the gym. The team hopes to stay in top shape.
Off the court, teammates work hard to think and act like a team. Without regular practices and games, it can be a challenge to maintain team spirit.
“I’m in Milner all the time, visiting first-years and letting them know they’re valuable,” said senior Anne Landay. “It’s funny; you can watch me make the rounds from Shore to Bryan to Milner, visiting all the girls.”
A two-time letter winner, Landay returns to the team as captain for the third time in as many years. One of the ways she helps players think of each other as teammates is by organizing a weekly team dinner. Players meet in the cafeteria and talk about life, school and the team.
“I’ve never seen the girls get along as well as they do this year,” Landay said.
Coach Wolos agreed. “The team is very tight. I don’t think that one of them would ever let the others down.”
The chemistry of the team is surprising, given that only two of the players knew each other before September. Letter-winner and last season’s team MVP Songan Nguyen returns to the team as Landay’s doubles partner.
One other person has come back for another season with the Quakers: Jenn Wolos.
Coach Wolos has defined Guilford tennis for the last four years. The team’s record has improved each year with Wolos steering them: last season, she guided the team to their best finish in five years in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).
As a player for the Quakers, she received second-team All-ODAC honors and was a three-year letter winner. She returned to Guilford as head coach in 2001.
This year, Coach Wolos has set specific goals for both her players and the team. She wants players to improve both their physical and mental game. She hopes the Quakers will finish the season in the top half of the conference.
“I believe that my team will reach my goals,” Wolos said in an e-mail. “I know that they will put 100% effort into being the best players they can.”