The Arizona women’s tennis team has hit the road to start its long, five-match stretch away from home. After about a five-day break of no matches since playing NAU, the team traveled to Fort Collins, Colo., to take on Colorado State.
During the short break, the team was given three days off to catch up on schoolwork, rest and clear their minds.
“Our schedule was going to be grueling, and we wanted everyone as fresh as possible,” Arizona women’s tennis head coach Vicky Maes said. “That was really our biggest goal.”
The players listened to their coaches and did just that. The Wildcats came back from that break and played an outstanding first match of the five, winning 7-0, giving Arizona some momentum for the remainder of the trip.
“The team performed great under the circumstances,” Maes said. “We never get to play indoors and that always requires some adjustments, but we responded well. We did a nice job in the doubles and kept it going all throughout the singles, too.”
It is still a great feeling to get a win on the road, even though the Rams are not one of Arizona’s Pac-12 Conference competitors. It is also key that Arizona won the doubles point 6-0 on courts one and two. All of the Wildcats won their matches on the singles courts, and Arizona quickly took the victory 4-0.
When Arizona won the doubles point, the only senior on the team, Laura Oldham, and her partner, freshman Devin Chypyha, who is still undefeated in her single matches, were behind 5-1 when the match was stopped.
All of the Wildcats were able to sweep their opponents in two sets, except junior Shayne Austin, who still brought the team a victory. Maes said she was very impressed with Chypyha’s poise and performance on Wednesday.
“I like how Devin keeps improving with every match she plays,” Maes said. “She has a big game, but needs to learn and build the points better. She is coachable, though, and has made huge strides.”
Maes said the team’s high level of chemistry this season has been a factor to the team’s success and continued growth.
“This is a wonderful group of young women,” Maes said. “We enjoy working with them because they are interested in playing hard and doing well together. Our team chemistry is what makes the difference in close matches.”
Arizona now has a record of 9-1 and is preparing for a Pac-12 match coming up on Friday against Colorado. Maes said they have a tough competitor ahead of them and will have to put all they have into the match to leave with a victory.
“We know that we will battle two tough teams in Colorado and Utah,” Maes said. “We did what we needed to do today to prepare for those matches, and now I feel we just need to go out and bear down.”
_______________
Follow Stevie Katz on Twitter.
