2008 Women's Tennis Season Review
IT STILL TAKES ONE: Sometimes improvement manifests itself in the ability to maintain status quo. Such was the case for the Pacific women's tennis team, who equaled their one win from the 2007 season. The Boxers finished the season 1-17 overall, 1-15 against Northwest Conference teams.
Their one win came over Puget Sound on Mar. 29, thanks to strong play from the lower half of the team's singles lineup. After earning convincing victories from Sophie Waddington and Tessa Krebs at No. 2 doubles and Stephanie Velligas and Sami Richards at No. 3 doubles, the Boxers put themselves in great position to take the win.
The Loggers, meanwhile, appeared ready to charge back for the upset by winning the first three singles flights. Waddington reversed the trend, winning her No. 4 match over Dombrow, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2. Krebs followed by winning her first singles match of the season, knocking off Penny Horowitz at No. 5, 6-1, 7-5. That left the match tied 4-4 for Nguyen, who opened her No. 6 match with Rogers trailing 4-2 in the first set. Nguyen proved resilient, coming back to win the first set and then proceeded to blank Rogers in the second to take home the 7-5, 6-0 victory.
COMING CLOSER: While winning only one match, the Boxers experienced a number of near misses at both the beginning and end of the season. Pacific fell just short to Puget Sound on Feb. 23, by a 5-4 score. Pacific fell behind by taking only one of three doubles matches, but rebounded with singles wins by Dayna Wong at No. 2, Sophie Waddington at No. 5 and Leslie Nguyen at No. 6.
Pacific also experienced a near miss against Pacific Lutheran on Apr. 11. The Boxers took two of three doubles matches to gain control over the Lutes going into the singles flights. Pacific then leaned on the lower flights with victories by Sami Richards at No. 4 and Tessa Krebs at No. 5, and would have taken No. 6 had it not been for the heat. Leslie Nguyen rebounded to force a third set at No. 6 against Kristina Bruner, but Nguyen was forced to retire in the third set due to the heat in the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center's dome.
SLAMMIN' SOPHIE: As Sophie Waddington went, so went the successes of the Boxers. The junior from Harare, Zimbabwe, finished with Pacific's best singles record at 5-7 with all of her matches at the No. 4 and No. 5 flights. After losing her first three matches of the season, Waddington went on win three straight at No. 5, which included victories over Paige Earhart of Lewis & Clark, Rochelle Hebert of Puget Sound and Mollee Robinson of George Fox.
Waddington proved to be the Boxers' most resilient player. She finished with three matches that went three sets, going 1-2 in those matches. She also saw a pair of matches that she was ahead in go unfinished, including a match against Emma Becker of Linfield. Waddington finished the season with a 5-8 record in singles, but won just one match in the doubles after winning seven matches in pairs the year before.
Unfortunately, the Boxers will be unable to capitalize on another year of improvement from Waddington, who will be unable to play for the 2009 season.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: One could only have imagined the Boxers' chances this season had Tessa Krebs been fully healthy. Pacific's top singles player in 2007 was sidelined over the summer by knee surgery. While she expected to be back fully for the 2008 season, her rehabilitation kept her off of the courts for singles action for most of the season.
When she did come back, however, Krebs was almost unstoppable. Playing in the final four matches of the season, Krebs amassed a 3-1 record, all at the No. 5 flight. She scored victories over Penny Horowitz of Puget Sound, Makara Thach of Pacific Lutheran and Jamie Slonaker of Willamette, all in two sets. Krebs did team with doubles partner Sophie Waddington for 10 matches this season, with the tandem amassing a 1-9 record at the No. 2 position.
BIGGER BUT YOUNGER: Head Coach Sandy Garry put together the largest Pacific women's tennis record in years, but also saw the Boxers field another young lineup. A total of 11 players comprised the roster, with every player seeing action in at least one match. Of the 11, eight players were of freshman or sophomore standing.
A SEASON LONG ROAD TRIP: Like many of Pacific's outdoor sports programs over the past couple of years, the women's tennis program spent their entire season practicing and competing away from the Forest Grove campus. The Holce Tennis Courts, the team's home since the early 1980s, were demolished in September 2007 to make way for the University's newest residence hall. Plans are on the table for a new set of six courts, which will be built on the former Tom Reynolds Soccer Field. Construction is expected to begin in Summer 2008.