By Andrew Hornback
At this point of the year, the University of Louisville women’s tennis team isn’t where they hoped they would be; sitting on a losing record. However, the Cards are looking for a fresh start later this week.
The Cardinals will host Middle Tennessee State University on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Bass Rudd Tennis Center, their last match before hosting Xavier on March 13.
The Cards defeated the Blue Raiders 4-3 last year in Murfreesboro, and are looking to use the match as a way to build momentum and turn around their season.
“Winning 7-0 or 6-1 would do a lot more for our confidence than winning 4-3 at home, but right now we just need to win. Our goals before the season began were to win the Big East and qualify for the NCAA tournament,” Natalia Baez, senior tennis player and winner of both singles and doubles matches against Middle Tennessee last year, said.
After starting the season with two sound victories over Morehead State and Michigan State, the team lost six matches in a row, including three consecutive by a score of 3-4.
“It’s disappointing but we know what we are capable of,” Lauren Imre, junior tennis player, said. “We are basically the same team as last year, and we are losing to some teams that we beat last year. We can still win the Big East, but we have to focus on each match as it comes.”
As for the Blue Raiders, Imre was confident about the team’s chances.
“We should be able to win, especially at home,” she said. “It was a close match last year down there, but we know it will be the kind of match we need to win to get our season back on the right track.”
Women’s tennis head coach Mark Beckham hasn’t let the teams early season struggles affect his outlook on what his team can accomplish either.
“It is more of a health issue than mental for us right now,” Beckham said. “One of our best players, Jo-Ann Van Aerde, has a high ankle sprain. If she was healthy and playing the way she was in the fall, we would have won four of those matches we lost for sure. So, it is one of those things where I have to accept the losses but I don’t let it affect us because we know we aren’t playing at full strength yet.”
Van Aerde went 5-4 in singles and 8-2 in doubles in the fall season, and paired with junior Lindsey Jones to win the doubles portion of the Missouri Invitational.
“As she gets closer to 100 percent, we will be better off,” Beckham said. “She played in the last two matches but was just a shell of herself. I think we will be fine, we have a lot of good teams coming up, and if we can get on a roll, I think we can still make a NCAA tournament run.”
Beckham had similar feelings as Baez regarding Mid. Tennessee.
“I don’t think it matters what the score is as long as we win,” he said. “It was a rough match there last year, but we should be able to win at home. I wouldn’t necessarily say we are more talented than they are, but we play with a lot of heart, and winning at home is something we know we should always be able to do.”
