Netters Hit the Road

The women's tennis team will be heading south this spring break, as it faces off against No. 61 Tulane, No. 65 New Orleans, Louisiana-Lafayette, and a recently added match against Xavier University of Louisiana. These matches will help prepare the team for the Ivy League season, which begins on March 29. The only other nationally-ranked team that the Red (8-1) has faced so far this season was No. 72 Penn State, which accounts for the team's only loss in the spring.

The Red's schedule starts with three straight matches. The team faces Xavier (7-1) tomorrow, Tulane (7-4) on Sunday, and New Orleans (13-1) on Monday. Next Wednesday, the netwomen will finish off the road trip against Louisiana-Lafayette (3-2). Head coach Angela Rudert is expecting some strong competition during the week.

"All our matches are winnable matches," remarked Rudert. "Tulane is the best team [out of the four] on paper."

Tulane knocked off No. 50 University of Iowa earlier in February, and should give the Red a tougher time than the other teams that the Red has faced earlier in the season. With a strong performance in Louisiana, the team will be ready to face the other schools of the Ancient Eight.

Coming off a sweep of Binghamton, UMBC, and UMASS, Rudert is looking to improve the doubles play. Even though the Red swept each of the three teams 7-0, it dropped one out of the three doubles contests. Rudert is trying some new pairings for doubles during the road trip, partnering junior co-captain Suzanne Wright with freshman Akane Kokubo.

"We've got a lot of talent [in doubles]," Rudert said. "We just have to get the right chemistry."

The netwomen return to Reis Tennis Center on April 12 for a weekend series against Brown and Yale.

She's Wright On Track

At age five, Suzanne Wright began banging a tennis ball against her garage wall in New Zealand. Fifteen years later, her opponents are the best collegiate women's tennis players in the country. Now in her junior year, Wright has risen to the forefront of the women's tennis team as its co-captain and first-singles player.

Tennis for Wright has always been a family affair. Her dad is a tennis coach, so naturally, Wright became interested in the sport at a young age. Her younger brother and sister also share her love of the game.

"I like how tennis is both an individual and a team sport. It combines skill and fitness," remarked Wright.

Wright entered her first tournament at age 10, and has since garnered many tennis titles. At 13, when most kids are worried about climbing the rope in gym, Wright was the 14-and-under and 16-and-under champion of New Zealand. While attending St. Cuthbert's College, Wright earned the distinction of being the No. 3 junior tennis player in New Zealand.

There are only five universities in New Zealand, and none of them offer intercollegiate athletics, so Wright looked abroad to further her tennis career. She wanted a school with not just a tennis focus, and she found what she was looking for at Cornell. Before coming to Ithaca, the longest time Wright had spent away from home was five weeks.

"It was a pretty big shock to the system," commented Wright about leaving home for a year. "It's a lot easier after you've found your niche."

Wright certainly found her niche on the tennis court her freshman season with a 22-9 singles record and a 6-1 record in Ivy play. She was named to the All-Ivy first team and voted the Red's MVP and Rookie of the Year. Playing first singles her sophomore year, Wright again earned All-Ivy first team honors with a 14-7 singles record and a 4-3 record in Ivy play.

Now in her third season, Wright has taken on a new role as co-captain of the team.

"If you asked me a couple of years ago, I don't think I would have seen myself [as captain]. You get used to it. Now I really enjoy it," said Wright.

Head coach Angela Rudert is very pleased with Wright's ability as a leader on and off the court.

"[She's] not one of those loud captains who yells a lot to pep up her teammates, but she is a captain who leads by example. If you watch her play on the court, she's got a nice manner, she's got incredible sportsmanship," praised Rudert.

"She always treats her teammates well and her opponents well, but she goes out there and does what she has to do to win, and so she's a great leader in that respect. She works very hard in practices, she works hard off the court too. Her teammates really look up to her," Rudert continued.

This spring, Wright is off to a terrific 8-1 start, her only loss coming after a three-set battle with a nationally-ranked player from Temple. She will face tougher competition from her Ivy opponents in upcoming matches.

"I am really looking forward to the Ivies. There is always something a bit different, a little bit more competitive about them. You want to do really well, and I think I will come across some of my toughest matchups during that time," finished Wright.

Red Tumblers Drop Vermont

After setting a team record a week ago against Rutgers, the women's gymnastics team bested its previous score in a victory over Vermont, 190.800 to 185.825 in Burlington on Sunday. Freshman Larissa Calka earned a score of 9.825 on the balance beam, tying the school record set last season by Shannon Weiman. With the win, the team improves to 3-1 in dual match competition.

"We set the bar high enough," remarked head coach Paul Beckwith. "I don't want to score below a 190 for the rest of the year."

The tumblers had strong performances in the vault, setting a new team record. Sophomore Denise Hurd led the way in that event for the Red with a score of 9.650. In the uneven bars, the team's strongest event, freshman Meghan Miller placed first with a score of 9.800, with the Red taking the top four out of five finishes in the event. The tumblers did not fare as well in the floor exercise, as freshman Shellen Goltz and Hurd tied for fifth place.

The team is expecting a closer match this weekend when it travels to Philadelphia to face Temple. The Red is currently ranked one spot above the Owls in the North Eastern region. Earlier this season, the tumblers placed above Temple at the George Washington Invitational in January, while the Owls finished above the Red at the New Hampshire Invitational in February.

On March 23, Cornell will compete in the ECAC championships at William and Mary. The Red is currently ranked third in the conference.

"We've never gone in higher than sixth. It feels pretty darn good," commented Beckwith. "Even if someone is ranked ahead of us, it all depends on what happens that day."

Tennis Sweeps Three

The women's tennis team improved to 8-1 after sweeping its matches against Binghamton, UMBC, and Massachusetts, all 7-0 this weekend at Reis Tennis Center. The netters took every point in all three matches, dropping only one of out three doubles contests in each match. Junior Suzanne Wright led the way for the Red, winning all of her first singles matches in straight sets.

"We had a really successful weekend. It was a good confidence booster for the team," said head coach Angela Rudert. "All of the teams [we played] could have taken a point from us, but we swept them."

The Red opened the weekend against Binghamton (2-4) on Saturday by taking the doubles point, with junior Nicole Chiu and freshman Erika Takeuchi taking the second contest, and freshman Melissa Tu and junior Saloni Kantaria winning at the No. 3 position. Wright, sophomore Laura Leigh Tallent, junior Piper Lucas, sophomore Kate Sternberg, Chiu, and Tu won all six singles matches to cap off the 7-0 victory.

Later that afternoon, the netters squared off against University of Maryland, Baltimore County (5-4) and again came away with the win. Fatigued from the previous match, the Red held out against the tougher UMBC squad. The Red took the doubles points by winning the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, and Wright, Tallent, Takeuchi, freshman Akane Kokubo, Lucas, and Sternberg were all winners in their respective singles contests.

"To pull out a 7-0 win when you're tired is a lot tougher, so it means a little more," remarked Rudert.

To finish up the weekend, the Red hosted University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2-11) yesterday afternoon. The netters took the doubles points with wins at the number 1 and number three positions, with Wright, Tallent, Kokubo, Lucas, Chiu, and Tu winning their singles matches in straight sets.

Facing weaker teams for much of the beginning of the season, the Red will face stiffer competition next week, when it travels to Louisiana to take on Tulane, New Orleans, and Louisiana-Lafayette.

"[The team] is up for some challenges in Louisiana. [They're] really excited. These matches will help us get ready for the Ivy season," Rudert said.

Easing Into the Spring Season

The women's tennis team's spring season actually began back in January, with the Red posting two impressive wins against Colgate and St. Bonaventure. The team has ridden this success to a 5-1 record, also capturing three singles titles and one doubles title at the Cornell Winter Indoor Classic.

"Our team is really strong throughout the lineup. The freshmen add a lot of depth, and our team cohesiveness is strong. The team has the potential to be at the top," said sophomore Laura Leigh Tallent.

The lady netters are led by junior Suzanne Wright at first singles, who is off to an impressive 8-1 start. At the Indoor Classic, Wright took the A-flight singles title as well as the A-flight doubles title with junior partner Daniela DelPrete. The Red has also seen strong play from freshmen Erika Takeuchi and Akane Kokubo. The freshman netters rose to the occasion at the Indoor Classic, with Takeuchi and Kokubo winning at the B and C-flight singles, respectively, and Melissa Tu reaching the finals at the D-flight singles.

"I think one thing that has been kind of nice about our team is that the upperclassmen take the freshmen under their wing to help them sort out things with their classes or issues they might have as being part of the team," head coach Angela Rudert said. "The upperclassmen have done that well, and not just our captains, we have a lot of juniors who have all been terrific with the freshmen."

The transition from junior tennis to college-level play can be difficult for freshmen, but the Red's rookies have adapted well.

"Junior tennis was very competitive and individual," remarked Takeuchi. "It's nice to be able to incorporate the team aspect."

The fall regular season, composed of only two tournaments, was especially short for the Red. Individual play was stressed more, as the only team matches came at the ECAC Championship.

At the ECACs, the netters faced three Ivy League opponents and pulled off a strong 6-1 win against Brown, which was enough to earn the Red a seventh-place finish. Wright and DelPrete went to the ITA Eastern Regional Championships in Philadelphia. Wright advanced to the third round before losing to Kavitha Krishnamurthy of Princeton, and DelPrete won her two qualifying matches to advance to the first round of the main draw. She ended up losing there to Grace Wu of Binghamton. Wright and DelPrete then teamed up to play against Old Dominion in doubles.

The Red's only loss this spring came to a nationally-ranked Penn State team. Wright came away with the only win for the netters.

"Basically, they outplayed us, they were just a better team on the day and probably a better team overall," said Wright. "We had a couple of close [matches]. We actually got a lot closer to them than last year."

The team will face its toughest competition of the spring season when it heads down to Louisiana during spring break to face No. 61 Tulane, No. 64 New Orleans, and Louisiana at Lafayette.

"[These matches] will be really good competition and practice for the Ivies," remarked sophomore Kate Sternberg. "They will make us match tough, and it will also be a good bonding experience for the team."

After the Louisiana road trip, the Red must battle the other Ivy League schools to finish out the season. The Ancient Eight boasts four nationally-ranked teams, including No. 34 Pennsylvania and No. 42 Harvard. The Crimson's team includes freshman Courtney Bergman, who is currently ranked No. 27 in the nation.

"Our Ivy matchups are going to be tough. Actually, we find more of the nationally-ranked teams in the Ivy League than our out-of-conference play. They're probably our toughest competition of all," said Rudert.

With a strong showing against UMBC, Massachusetts, and Binghamton, the netters will be able to gain momentum for their Louisiana road trip and the Ivy League season.

"We're building up our confidence by playing other teams, so we'll be more prepared for the Ivy matches [this time around]," said Kokubo.