Womens Tennis: Odds look good for Irish in home opener
By JOE LINDSLEY
Sports Writer
Statistically, the odds are against the Western Michigan Broncos tomorrow as they visit the Irish at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Over the past nine years, the Irish have only lost one home opener.
Currently 22nd in the preseason rankings, Notre Dame will face a Western Michigan squad that includes one of the nation's top doubles duos, Melanie Peters and Frederika Girsang.
"I'm excited to get the season started," freshman Lauren Connelly said. "We've been practicing hard."
The Irish, who have been ranked in the top 30 for each of the past ten years, are returning five letterwinners — junior Alicia Salas, sophomore Sarah Jane Connelly, junior Emily Neighbours, senior captain Katie Cunha, and junior Caylan Leslie, who is returning to the courts after a 14-month recovery from a shoulder injury.
Despite the number of returnees, the team remains fairly young.
"We have a bunch of freshmen in the lineup so this is a big day for them," Cunha said. "I expect as much out of [the freshmen] as any of the other girls on the team. I think it's kind of an advantage because they are not going to be intimidated by anyone because they are new, and they are hungry. They are excited to get out there and play."
According to Lauren Connelly, the younger sister of Sarah Jane, she and her fellow rookies had a challenging adjustment period, but she believes they will take to the courts with confidence tomorrow.
"It took us awhile [to adjust], but it was nice having four other freshmen there," Connelly said.
"They played a bunch of big players in the fall, and they weren't scared," Cunha said.
Cunha is excited about the potential of her young teammates.
"I think everyone is really excited," Cunha said. "The freshmen are extremely excited. I think we might be able to take a lot of teams by surprise because we are young."
Leslie will be returning to team play for the first time since her shoulder injury early last fall. Last weekend, she played in the Collegiate Tennis Kick-off Classic in Las Vegas along with Cunha and freshman Kelly Nelson.
"I wish I could have won a few more matches [in Las Vegas], but all in all it was a good weekend," Leslie said. "The most important thing was that I got out there and got some match experience again. I went out there and I was very nervous. It was just a lot different to be competing again. It was nice to go out there and play well."
Leslie's return adds to the positive outlook for the Irish, who advanced to the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.
"I personally have high expectations for the team," Cunha said. "They did really well in the fall. I expect them to carry that out in the first match."
The Broncos will probably prove to be one of the minor challenges for this Irish squad, which has at least three teams ranked in the top ten on its schedule.
"We want to focus on winning our regional matches and those big ones coming up against Wisconsin and Northwestern," Cunha said. "We set a lot of short-term goals."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, January 22, 2003
