In its first tournament since the All-American Championships held at the beginning of the month, the Arizona women’s tennis team will compete at the ITA West Regional in San Diego today through Sunday.
Six of the eight members of the team will represent Arizona in the tournament, including No. 29 Danielle Steinberg, a sophomore, and senior Kasia Jakowlew.
Junior Camelia Todorova, sophomore Tina Razloznik and freshmen Natalia Toporowska and Sydni Katz will also be competing.
In addition to host San Diego State, players from ASU, USC, UCLA, California, Nevada, Hawaii, San Diego and Pepperdine will compete.
“”This is going to be a very tough tournament,”” Steinberg said, “”’cause basically we have a lot of good teams in our region.””
“”I don’t anticipate our girls losing to anyone but the Pac-10″”
– Vicky Maes,
UA head coach
In terms of the level of the players in the Pacific 10 Conference, UA head coach Vicky Maes said that it is a very competitive region, one the team will compete against regularly in the spring season.
“”I don’t anticipate our girls losing to anyone but the Pac-10,”” she said.
With the long layoff, Maes said she expects the team to have an advantage for the event.
“”I think they should be a lot fresher for this tournament,”” Maes said.
Steinberg, who is the captain of the team, also said that the extra time to practice and prepare could only help them.
“”It’s always good to have a little bit of time off to recover from tournament to tournament,”” she said.
Like the other fall tournaments, Maes said she would like to see the women earn a few wins and “”just continue what we’ve been doing.””
In 2005, only four players went to the event, where junior Juliette Mavroleon – who won’t make the trip this time – was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
A goal for the coaches and the players is to experiment with different doubles teams at the event in order to evaluate which pair has the most chemistry on the court.
Competing together for the doubles event for the first time this season are the teams of Razloznik and Katz and Jakowlew and Todorova.
“”It’s exciting to play with a new partner and to see if things are going to work out,”” said Steinberg, who will be competing with Toporowska at the tournament. “”We’re just trying to find the best combination.””
