Women's tennis shows off at ITA and UNC-Charlotte invitationals

Princeton women’s tennis is already underway, busy preparing for another hopefully very successful season.

This past weekend, four Tigers — first-year Michelle Sorokko, first-year Maia Sung, first-year Jayme Leschly and junior Nathalie Rodilosso — participated at the UNC-Charlotte 49er Invite in North Carolina. The Tigers competed against East Carolina University and grabbed three singles wins and went two for two in doubles matches to close out the first day on Friday. The team then swept all four of its doubles contests on Saturday and won four singles matches, including a particular standout win by Sung, who beat Charlotte’s Pierina Imparato 17–15 in a grind-it-out third-set tiebreaker.

Several hundred miles west of Charlotte, sophomore Brianna Shvets and first-year Daria Frayman competed at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. Shvets had a fantastic individual run, winning five matches in a row (including three against ITA top-125 players) before falling to Duke’s Kelly Chen, who happens to be ranked No. 5 in the nation by ITA, in three hard-fought sets.

Senior co-captain Clare McKee said the fall season is fairly busy, and with a lot of overlapping events, the team generally sends four-to-six players to each of the tournaments. McKee is excited about the brimming potential of the team this year and says that practices have been going smoothly. “We have been focusing on implementing a lot of new exercises in practice and putting emphasis on circuit-based fitness drills in warm-ups.”

When asked about how she plans to lead the team and integrate the incoming first-years, McKee voiced her excitement and strong hopes. “We have a really talented freshman class this year. Just yesterday, we had a team meeting where we ironed out team culture and values for the upcoming season, stressing the values of unity and being connected with one another and displaying that positive energy at practice.” McKee says that the value of competing for something greater than oneself has kept the team closely-knit.

McKee is bittersweet about entering her final season on the team. “This last year feels different because it is my last chance to compete with this team, so I am just trying to soak up every moment and continue to remind myself what a privilege and humbling experience it is to be a part of this team,” she said. Her plans after college include law-related programs and possibly law school. “I don’t see myself coaching in the near future, but I would love to keep playing tennis and staying in shape, and hopefully keep playing the sport until I am an old lady,” she said.

In the near future, however, McKee remains zeroed in on leading the Tigers to more wins across the board during the fall and spring seasons.

Looking forward, the Tigers will travel to the ITA Northeast Regionals competition at West Point next week, a tournament that junior Stephanie Schrage, a fellow team member, has won individually in the past. The last two tournaments during the fall season will be invitationals at Vanderbilt University and Louisiana State University. The Tigers will then look to a long off-season break between mid-November to early January, but they will be staying busy. The captains will host captain’s practices five times a week, and players will spend around two hours a week in individual sessions with the coaching staff. “Captain’s practices are a great opportunity for team bonding and working on mechanics before the spring season,” said McKee.