By Brett Jager
The University of Louisville women’s tennis team is already off to a great start at 2-0 with quality wins over Morehead State and Michigan State. The Cards hope their successful start of the new season will continue throughout the rest of the season.
U of L Women’s Tennis Coach Mark Beckham was awarded the United States Tennis Association Kentucky Coach of the Year last season. The award is a testament to how much he turned the program around in his first season as head coach.
“He has changed the entire program,” Lindsey Jones, junior tennis player, said. “The results speak for themselves. We went from nothing, to top 40 in the country. He treats us like students first and players second.”
Beckham did not really expect to win the award, but was very happy and excited to do so.
“It was a bit unexpected,” Beckham said. “I didn’t even know I was up for nomination. It feels really good to win the award because it tells me people recognize my team’s success from last year.”
The team is coming off their best season in school history and first trip to the NCAA Tournament, and they are currently ranked No. 40 in the nation. They only lost one senior from last year and added three freshmen and a transfer.
“I am very excited about this season,” Beckham said. “This team has a lot of potential and if we can stay away from injury, and everybody is able to assume their roles, we can maybe have a better year than last year.”
Two of the top returning players for the team are the All-Big East doubles pair of seniors Bianca Gorbea and Natalia Baez. Baez learned some important lessons from Beckham in her one year playing under him.
“He taught us to enjoy what you’re doing, work hard and have the right attitude,” Baez said. “He wants us to care for each other, and is really high on the team dynamic.”
This upcoming weekend the Cards will travel to Clemson, S.C. for the National Team Indoor Tournament. The team will play No. 26 Auburn in the first match, and depending on the result, either No. 8 Clemson or No. 45 Boise State in the second match. The tournament will be a great early test for the Cards.
“This is a very important tournament and one of the two most important road trips we will make all season,” Beckham said. “Beating No. 26 would be huge, and in the second match we will still be playing a highly ranked team. I want to leave at least 1-1 and hopefully 2-0. This could set us up to be highly ranked when we go into Tulsa, Oklahoma to play two more ranked teams.”
Starting Feb. 20 with a match against Miami Ohio, and ending March 14 with a match against Rice, the Cards have five consecutive home matches at the Bass Rudd Tennis Center. It could be a crucial time as they look to push themselves into the NCAA tournament.
“Coach always tells us to defend Bass Rudd,” Baez said. “This is our home and teams that come in here should leave with a loss. This could give us a lot of momentum to finish strong into the NCAA.”
Beckham believes this is going to be a very successful season for his team because he knows some of the returning players can play better than last year.
“I think a lot of people on this team are going to raise their level,” Beckham said. “I feel [junior] Lauren Imre is one of the more talented players in the country, but she has been dealing with injury since she set foot on campus. Lindsey Jones was our top performer in our first two matches and she has already improved greatly.”
Jones feels it is very important to keep improving in order to generate as much success for the team as she can.
“I need to do the best I can every match and pull more of my own weight this season,” Jones said. “I think everyone has high expectations and I think we are one of the best teams in the country in the sense that we treat each other with a lot of respect and we expect a lot from each other. And if we do that, it will lead to success on the court.”
