Jeltje Loomans
May 11, 2015
NCAA Bound
This past weekend your Tribe tennis girls travelled to UNC since they hosted the regional championships of the NCAA Tournament. We arrived with a great entourage Thursday night so we could watch the men's tennis team take on the UNC men in their first round match on Friday. It was great to watch the guys play at a national level, and see Aaron Chaffee, Zach Braig and Will Juggins compete in the last dual match of their careers. Aaron and Will played a competitive match at number one doubles with lots of entertaining points but unfortunately fell short. I just want to take a moment to congratulate the men on an amazing year and wish them the best of luck in the upcoming years.
Now back to the girls. We drew Dartmouth as our first round opponent and felt good about our chances. Dartmouth has had a great season and has strong players but we have been working hard to be in the position we were in so it was bound to be a fight. Leeza and I won our doubles match with Leeza hitting screaming return winners down the line and cross court but unfortunately it was not enough to get us the doubles point. In singles, Leeza, Olivia and I jumped ahead in our first sets and with Cecily being in a tight set, it was a close match. Unfortunately, Dartmouth was a bit better offensively so the match slipped out of our hands.
When the match ended, I had some time to reflect on this year, and if someone told me the results that we would have this year, I would have signed up for it. I am extremely proud of the girls that I got to play with this year. We had a young team, but that did not stop us from challenging top programs. I would like to thank Julia, Leeza, Jackie, Cecily, Maria, Olivia and Melanie for an amazing year. This season has given me so many funny, crazy, sweet, awesome, ridiculous memories that I will cherish forever.
With this being the last dual match in my Tribe tennis career, I would like to take a moment to thank you all for all the support you have given me (us) over the past five years. It has meant the world to me that you came out on cold, early mornings, extremely hot afternoons and sometimes even battled the snow to come and support us. You never know what you get with Williamsburg weather. Playing for you and with you by our sides makes our experience so much richer and fulfilling.
Thank you again for all and I will miss you.
Love,
Jeltje
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Jeltje Loomans
April 21, 2015
This past weekend the Tribe tennis teams hosted CAA's at the Millie West Tennis Facility. We had a good week of practice so we felt ready for Friday's match against the University of Delaware. Unfortunately rain made an appearance so we moved indoors to the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center for doubles. After claiming the doubles point, the sun came through so we moved outdoors. With great performances all around, we were able to beat UD 4-0 and placed ourselves in the semifinals against James Madison University on Saturday.
We started our Saturday with a lovely team breakfast at our all-time favorite coffee house: Aromas. Well actually this is the case for most of the team… For some mysterious reason Aromas finds it extremely hard to not put cream cheese on Jackie's bagel in the morning. With some patience we got to the courts for a great day of tennis. The weather was more than corporative, the shades were on and the signs of spring present. Well perhaps a little too present, the pollen on the courts made it look like we were playing on clay. Another great display of doubles sent us ahead and impressive singles play gave us another 4-0 victory in the tournament, making it to the final to compete for the school's 23rd CAA title.
Later that day some of us experienced some of the craziest doubles match ever. The Tribe men's tennis team also competed in the semifinal that Saturday against Elon. Doubles came down to my fellow Dutchy Lars de Boer and sophomore Addison Appleby. After the Tribe had six match points at 7-6, Elon took a lead of 6-2 in the tiebreaker so it was up to our boys to save some match points and they did! With some ridiculous returns and strong serving Lars and Addison pulled out the win for the Tribe which led them to a 4-1 win. The men won the tournament with senior Will Juggins claiming the title on Sunday after having full body cramps the day before. Huge congrats to them!
Now back to the women's team. Sunday started off again with breakfast at Aromas and believe it or not they got Jackie's order correct! Jackie also made an amazing pre match video to give us extra motivation and it worked (check out our facebook page). All of us were pumped to be in the position to compete for another CAA title. This is what we had as a goal at the beginning of the season. The whole team delivered wonderful performances on all courts. Melanie looked like a professional next to me, Cecily was pushing her opponent around, Olivia was angling her girl of the court, Maria was hitting backhand winners down the line and Julia and Jackie were professional cheerleaders. I was so proud of each and every one of them. I would usually think it is out of place to recognize just one individual because this was a team effort but everyone who has seen Leeza play over this season knows why I am singling her out here. She has competed so incredibly well and consistent this whole year, overpowering her opponents with beautiful strokes and never ever giving up. I just wanted to recognize her outstanding play and amazing results.
The blog wouldn't be complete without me thanking everyone that came out this weekend. It was so lovely playing on home turf with all the support we had. The wonderful part is that we are not done yet! We will find out next week where we will be going for NCAA, hopefully some of you could come out and cheer us on. Thank you again for all the love we receive from you!
Love,
Tribe Women's Tennis
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Leeza Nemchinov
April 13, 2015
To our lovely Tribe fans,
Thank you for coming out to our match on Saturday!! Your support means the world to us. I can't believe how fast time has gone by and that we only have a month and a half left with Jeltje. What is Tribe Tennis without Jeltje Loomans?! Maybe we can convince her to stay a 6th year… Or maybe not. We are going to miss Jeltje so much and will always remember everything she has contributed to the team and the program. Personally, it has been a pleasure and a fun experience to play doubles together this season. I have been beyond lucky to have spent three years of my time here with her. So, to sum up everything up: Jeltje don't leave!
Saturday was a very fun and successful day for the Tribe. We started out our day by eating cheese shop with some of the former William and Mary tennis players who came back to visit for the weekend. It was so nice getting to know them and hearing some words of wisdom. Afterwards, all of us (except for Jeltje) went to the tennis facility to decorate the courts for Jeltje! We all learned that drawing stars with chalk is one of Julia's many talents. We also learned that when Mel gets creative with drawing, she likes to draw the wifi sign.
We ended up winning the match but the score definitely made the match look easier than it actually was. We won the doubles point and I felt super special playing with Jeltje because there were so many people who came to watch her. Thank you field hockey girls and coaches for your loud cheering, and support! Singles was a battle for most of us. Jeltje chipped, charged, hit aces, drop shots, and scared her opponent as usual to get the win. Livi was down in the first set 5-1 and then turned on her superstar mode to turn the match around and win! I ended up winning my match and almost collapsed afterwards because it was so long. Unfortunately Mel's match didn't turn out as she would have wanted to, and Maria and Jules weren't able to finish their matches because our format was “clinch” “clinch.” Once again thanks for coming to our match and we look forward to seeing you all at CAA's this weekend. Our first match is an early one, at 9am on Friday so make sure to grab some coffee before hitting up the tennis courts! (We will be sure to grab some for ourselves too).
Go Tribe!
- Leeza
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Julia Casselbury
April 6, 2015
This weekend the Tribe hit the road and travelled to Huntington, West Virginia where we took on DePaul and Marshall. On the drive out we hit some severe weather so it ended up taking us around nine hours to get there. For dinner we stopped along the way at April's Pizza Shop where they had one of the most impressive Barbie Doll collections that any of us had ever seen. The team's favorite doll was definitely the Oreo Cookie Barbie or the 'N Synch Barbie version.
On Saturday, we played against DePaul in one of our most closely contested matches of the year. We lost the doubles point, but Leeza, Jeltje, and Olivia all won their singles matches so the score was tied at 3-3. Mel and Maria were both still on court in the third set playing some amazing tennis. Unfortunately we weren't able to come out on top at the end of the match but we certainly had a lot to be proud of and could learn many things at the end of the day.
On Sunday, we took on the Marshall Thundering Herd for our second match of the weekend. It was another extremely close match where it came down to the wire for us. Although Leeza and Jeltje continued to play solid doubles and won their second match together of the weekend, we fell at the number two and three positions so we went into singles down 0-1. Mel and Maria won their matches very quickly while Cecily fought hard but lost on court 6. Jeltje ended up losing her match in two close sets so we were down 2-3 with Olivia and Leeza still on the court. In Leez's match, they were playing some very physical points with some rallies going 30-40 balls long. Livvy lost the first set but came back to win the second set playing some impressive tennis. She ended up losing the third set 6-3 so the final score of the match was 2-4 since we stopped playing after it was decided. Leeza was not able to finish but won her first set and was playing a tiebreaker in the second set when we stopped.
Our matches this weekend were some of the closest that we have had all year. Although we didn't end up winning either of them, we can learn a lot that will prepare us for our final match next weekend and post-season play. Be sure to come out and watch next weekend for Senior Day where we take on ODU Saturday at 2pm!
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Jackie Lee
March 30, 2015
Our dearest Tribe Tennis fans,
Your girls are back! After a few tough matches last week we found our groove again this weekend. We fought 'til the end and had a great weekend. We burnt Bruno the Brown bear 6-1 and stomped on the St. John's Red Storm 7-0 without dropping a set. Leeza proved yet again why she has the number one spot with two great wins against Brown's #1 (who may have the fastest women's serve ever...) and the St. John's #1. Jeltje did what she does best - annoy her opponents with a mixture of drop shots, overheads, volleys, one handed backhand winners, aces, and the occasional tweener. Our #2 doubles pair Olivia and Maria had two great wins this weekend, not to mention our incredible #3 doubles clinch against Brown from Julia and Cecily! Mel played her heart out as always at number 4 singles and got a pair of solid wins.
Overall this weekend we learnt a lot - that Julia sings like Rihanna, that Jamaican waffles make you play like a champion, and that you cannot lob Jeltje (just kidding, we already knew this last one). It was great to play indoors one last time before our senior day against ODU and our CAA's - thank you everyone who came to support and devoured the pizza in record time. We hope to see you on Saturday April the 11th at 2pm outdoors (unless it's raining or somehow still below 50 degrees by then) for Jeltje Loomans senior day! It will be a very special event and we can't wait to see you all there.
Much love your Tribe Tennis girls!! |
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Mélanie Roy
March 23, 2015
This past weekend we went to Texas to play against Yale and Rice. We got up really early on Friday morning to catch our early flight. It did not go as well as we hoped, three of us had to stay in Richmond and wait couple hours for the next flight. Once we all got there, we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner and everyone really enjoyed it! After dinner, we all went to see a ballet at the Houston Theater. It was the first time for most of us, and it was really fun! After this long day, we were all really tired, and we went to bed as soon as we got back to the hotel.
On Saturday, we played inside at a country club because it rained all day. We started the match against Yale at 4:30pm, and we only had four courts available so it was a long and really exciting match! We started off well and won the double's point! Then the singles were really tough, Jeltje had a really good match but lost in three sets, while Olivia and I both lost in two sets with close second set. Leeza did an awesome job and won a second point for the Tribe. Maria and Cecily had really exciting 3 set matches. They were the last two on, and we cheered them on until the end! Maria lost 6-4 in the third set, and Cecily stopped her match once the dual match was decided. We were a little disappointed by the results, but we put our thoughts and energy on the next match against Rice.
On Sunday against Rice, it was our first match outdoors of the season. It was a really competitive match. Doubles were exciting as Jeltje and Leeza won, Olivia and Maria lost and Jules and I were the last double on and we lost, 7-5. It was a tough start but we focused on singles that were coming right after. Olivia had a really good match, she won, 6-1, 6-1, very quickly. It was a little bit tougher for everyone else. I won in a close two set match, Jeltje and Cecily lost in 2 sets and Maria and Leeza lost in really tight 3 set matches. Overall, it was a really fun weekend. We played two good teams and had really competitive matches and a lot of fun! Next matches will be at home this weekend, and after a little rest, we are going to get ready for those! Go Tribe
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Maria Groener
March 9, 2015
Hi, first I just want to say thank you so much to all our Tribe fans that came out and supported us against Navy, we appreciated it a lot. We only had one match this weekend, we started off at 11 on Saturday at MTNC and as usual we played our doubles first. Melanie and Jules played the third double and played a great match with good poaching and good effort. Olivia and Maria played a stabile match too and did not give away many free points. Jeltje and Leeza delivered another good match, and as always Leeza dominated from the baseline and Jeltje from the net. After a good start in doubles, the team continued with the singles matches. Ces faced some adversity in her single match, but managed to stay calm and focused and ended up winning 10-8 in the third set tiebreaker. Both Olivia and Leeza played tiebreakers in one of their sets and both stayed strong and won them! Jeltje and Mel did not have that much trouble with their singles matches today and their opponents could not keep up with their level. Even though everyone did not play their best tennis in the singles matches today, we all fought so well and kept the energy up and after a 7-0 win we definitely showed who the better team was. Overall the effort and energy was really good and I couldn't be prouder to be a part of this team.
The team is now off for spring break and everyone is traveling either in the US or outside of US. Jeltje is going home to Holland, where the W&M field hockey team is also going for a team trip. Leeza is going to New York and is kind of excited for some real good sushi! Jackie is going to Boston and Jules is going home to Lancaster. Melanie is going to Miami with her family, where all the freshmen are also going. Olivia is showing Ces and me her home town and we are so excited for some nice weather and good food! We will spend our spring break to rest and recover so we are ready for the next part of the season when we return. Our next matches is in Houston against Rice and Yale, but we will be back in Williamsburg the 28th of March to play Brown. Go Tribe !
Maria
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Olivia Thaler
March 1, 2015
Hi Tribe fans!
Although this weekend didn't go completely as planned, it was a good one for women's (and men's) tennis. We had originally planned to play against Elon on Friday night. Unfortunately, Elon felt it was too risky to drive up during the snowstorm, so the match was cancelled.
The Tribe girls woke up very early Sunday morning to eventually take on Georgia State University at 9 o'clock. Despite the obvious difficulty of waking up so early the girls made a great effort to get the win. The score was 5-2. We had a slow start and lost the doubles point to Georgia State. We knew we had to pick up the energy and remain focused in our matches to overcome our opponents. Strong wins from Leeza, Jeltje and Maria set the team on track. Cecily played solid tennis and clinched the win with a straight set victory.
I am sure our team, coaches and crowd would agree that Melanie put on a great show for us to gain the 5th win. Melanie split sets with her opponent, and because we had already clinched the match, a 10-point tiebreaker was played rather than a full third set. The entire crowd stood behind Mel as she fought for every point. Mel and her opponent had many long, grueling rallies. To say the least, the match was very physical. Although Mel had a few match points slip past her, she remained tough and fearless to eventually win the match 18-16. The support from the crowd in such a tight match created such a great atmosphere, something I personally look forward to experiencing more and more in the next 3 years.
I am so proud of everyone on our team for such great play this weekend and am optimistic about the last half of our season. Next Saturday we play against Navy, be sure to come watch us if you want to see some great tennis!! We really appreciate the support we have been getting, it makes us more determined to do well for our school. Go Tribe!!
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Cecily Wuenscher
February 23, 2015
Hi Everyone,
This past weekend was very successful for the Tribe! We dropped just 1 rubber out of 14! On Saturday we hosted #69 North Carolina State after having been on the road for our past 2 matches. We were all very excited to be competing at home again in front of all of our fans, and the crowd definitely didn't disappoint in their numbers.
Although we lost the doubles point at the beginning, we didn't let this affect us. We came out even more determined and ready to fight back in the singles portion of the match. First to finish was Jeltje, who dropped just 3 games to win the match 6-3 6-0. Following this, the rest of the Tribe all won singles in straight sets to take the match 6-1 overall.
Next up on Sunday we played our first match against a fellow CAA conference team - the College of Charleston. Having lost to this team twice last year, we knew we would have to play hard and smart to win. Starting with doubles, all 3 teams took the win to give us a 1-0 lead. The players from the College of Charleston competed well, but so did we, and soon after we had all won our singles to take the match 7-0.
To those of you who came to support this weekend, we thank you! It means so much to see all of you there and it definitely makes a difference! Our next matches are on Friday, Feb. 27th, against fellow CAA conference team, Elon, at 4pm, and then again on Sunday, March 1st, against Georgia State at 9am. Additionally the new rankings come out on Tuesday this week, so finger-crossed for the Tribe :)
Best wishes,
Cecily
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February 18, 2015
Dear Tribe fans,
Hereby I present to you: A Day in the Life… (Or let's just do 5)
Before reading past the next line I would recommend you to put on your seatbelt, have your chair in an upright position, fold your trey table in and hold on tight, it will be a bumpy ride.
As a pre-road trip tradition we all met up on Valentine's Day at Aroma's for a lovely breakfast, starting off the weekend in good spirits. Thanks to you we got a little extra love on V Day with our new scarfs, if I may say so myself they look goodJ. I will include a picture below. Once on the road everything went smoothly, the flight from Norfolk to Memphis was quick an easy. We even were lucky enough to bump into Max Mirnyi and Ivan Dodig at the Memphis airport. There was a professional tournament going on and they lost in the semis of doubles. Max Mirnyi is an Olympic Gold Medal winner from Belarus in mix doubles on top of many major wins in doubles. Ivan Dodig is former top 30 singles player and was ranked top 10 in doubles last year. They were kind enough to take a picture with us which should be attached below as well.
So far all good one would say… Well the first bump in the road came when we had to find the way to the Ole Miss indoor tennis facility. The assistant coach of Ole Miss was not able to give us the correct address, so we must have been looking for the place for over 30 minutes, asking strangers with even stranger accents (y'alllll) and making many, many phone calls. But to be fair it makes complete sense to have tennis courts inside a facility that is noted to only have soccer, softball, rifling and volleyball. Having the courts located right next to a volleyball court. Let's just say it was quite the adventure. The hit was good, getting used to the courts and ready for the game the next day.
When playing Ole Miss it is hard not to think about the win two years ago so we were all excited for another opportunity to compete against them. After being outplayed in doubles we knew it was going to be a tough battle and battle we did. Unfortunately Melanie, Maria, Cecily and I fell short in our matches but Leeza and Olivia showed some amazing heart to pull out their wins. I get to play right next to Leeza and I see that as a privilege. The intensity and focus combined with her powerful, powerful game makes her just simply unplayable, it's amazing to witness from just a couple of feet away. She is playing some of the best tennis I have ever seen anyone play in college tennis and I am very very happy she is on our side of the net. Olivia also played an amazing match showing some great fight in the third set to pull out the win. After the match we hit the road back to Memphis where the weather was taking a turn, luckily we have Julia who knows every turn the weather is going to take…
With 'anticipated' snow the University of Memphis closed school on Monday, so we didn't get to play that day. The coaches took whoever wanted to go see a movie. For those who have not seen the Kingsman yet but want to, don't worry I won't spoil the end but I just want to warn you that it is very peculiar. In the evening we went out for dinner and you will never guess who we bumped into… Michael Chang (French Open champion 1989). He was in Memphis to coach his player Kei Nishikori who just won the tournament there. Mike, as Jesse is allowed to call him, shared some words of wisdom with us and was also kind enough to take a picture with us (see below).
Oh yeah almost forgot the reason why we were in Memphis: the match… So after a ridiculous amount of phone calls we played the University of Memphis on Tuesday. Some of the girls are not very experiences with ice (Olivia) so after skating from the car to the indoor courts we finally got to play our match. I must say that I was very proud to watch everyone compete the way we want to after hanging around for a couple of days. Every tennis player knows how easy it is to lose focus in such a situation but everyone stayed composed and put in their full effort to pull out at 5-2 win.
We got food right after the match and after showering everyone got ready for the real game of the day… JENGAJ The build up to this game was too much for the creepy guy living in the lobby so we had the floor to ourselves. The intensity and focus displayed during that hour is something that Nadal and Djokovic can only aspire to be able to master. Tyler got too confident while putting the block back and lost the game much to our delight and his frustration.
To rest our fatigued mind and bodies we watched a little Dodgeball to end the weekend (or week, I don't know anymore). Departure time from the hotel was 4:15am sharp so everyone went to bed early. I was very lucky to be sharing the room with Olivia who apparently has amazing hearing because I put my alarm on the softest volume possible while she set her alarm for 4:10pm so she somehow wake up at 4:08am which meant just grabbing stuff and stumbling out of our room. Our flights again went smoothly accept there is one little key to this story… Because we had such a short layover in Charlotte our bags didn't make it on time. Unfortunately the key to the van was in one of those bags so we had to wait for the next flight from Charlotte to come in, which only took an hour but felt like 5 if you have been up since 4am (especially when your bruise your finger in the door on top of that). I guess our good luck of meeting all those amazing people had to be compensated somehow.
Thank you for reading all the way but more importantly for your unconditional love and support for the Tribe. We love having you out at our matches! Please come and support your favorite girls when we take on N.C. State at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center Saturday the 21st at 2pm and the College of Charleston Sunday at 10:30am!
Love,
The Tribe Women's Tennis Team
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Leeza Nemchinov
February 2, 2015
Hi Tribe fans!
First of all (as written by my teammates in the previous blogs), I would like to thank all of you for coming out to our matches and supporting us! It means so much to us and we love playing in front of such a big and loud crowd.
This past weekend we played against Wake Forest on Friday and against Maryland on Sunday. Friday was a very long day for the Tribe. We started out our weekend with an early morning team breakfast on Friday at Aroma's before a long van ride to Wake Forest. We were all very cranky and sleepy at Aroma's, but things change very suddenly once our food arrived. I am so proud of my teammates and how well we were all able to stay composed and energetic after a tiring four-hour van ride. We got the doubles point against Wake Forest with a win from our lovely freshies, Olivia and Maria – as well as a win from the elderly doubles team of Jeltje and I. Singles was close with three wins and three losses from the Tribe. Mel clinched the match for us with an awesome win! Meanwhile, the freshies (Olivia, Maria, Cecily) were fighting their hearts out on the other side.
On Sunday, the Tribe hosted Maryland at home. We dominated in doubles and took a 1-0 lead in the match. Julia was a superstar in doubles, and hit unbelievable shots. It made me smile every time I looked over. Singles ended up being very close, and four of us ended up winning (we won the match). Jeltje won in two sets and had the crowd on their feet with her outstanding game, and those beautiful volleys. Maria also won and probably scared her opponent with that backhand down the line of hers. Olivia stayed mentally tough during her long three set match, and almost gave all of us a heart attack in the third set (because it was so close, and we were all VERY nervous). Melanie and Cecily didn't win but they fought until the very last point and left everything they had on the court. We couldn't be prouder of them. I won my match as well, and it was a battle the entire time.
We have been off to a great start so far, and cannot believe that we are already done with 1/3 of the season. Time flies by fast when you do what you love and most importantly have supportive and caring people with you along the way. I love this team so much and am so excited for what the rest of the season has in store for us! Once again, thank you for all of your support and we look forward to seeing you at our next home matches on February 21st at 2pm against North Carolina State & on February 22nd at 10:30am against the College of Charleston.
Yours truly,
Leez
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Julia Casselbury
January 26, 2015
Hi everyone!
It was an exciting weekend for Tribe Women's Tennis! On Friday night, we beat the Morgan State Bears, 7-0. Everyone competed extremely well and everyone was able to win their match in straight sets.
On Sunday, we played Penn State, where we came out on top, 5-2. In the doubles portion of the match, Leeza and Jeltje played #1 and won their match decisively, 6-1. Maria and Olivia clinched the doubles point at the #3 position to give us a 1-0 lead going into singles. Leeza, Jeltje, Melanie, and Maria all won their singles matches to give us the 5-2 win. It was a lot of fun to play at home in front of so many supportive fans!
So far this season during our doubles matches, we have been incorporating “green flag” points. Since our doubles matches are now no-ad scoring, whenever one court has a deuce point, the chair umpire will raise a up a green flag in order to alert the audience that the next point will be a no-ad point. If we win the following point, a free t-shirt is given to someone in the stands. The addition of the green flag points to our doubles matches has made it a lot more interactive and fun to watch. No ad, no problem!
Next weekend we are going to be travelling to our first away match against Wake Forest on Friday January 30th. Then, we will be playing at home again on Sunday February 1st. The match is at 2pm against Maryland.
I just wanted to say thank you so much to all of the people who have been coming out to support us at our home matches. It has been so much fun to play in front of such an engaged crowd and it really does make a big difference in our matches.
If you haven't done so already, follow us on instagram @tribewomenstennis.
Have a great week!
Julia
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Mélanie Roy
January 19, 2015
We all came back for pre-season on January 9th. We had a really fun week of practice and we did some really fun team bonding activities. We got to know some Williamsburg families better by having nice home-cooked dinners at their houses. We also went for a visit in Colonial Williamsburg – it was really funny to realize that almost all of us had never visited any of the historic houses before. The last night of pre-season we went to see “Imagination Game”, it was a great movie that everyone enjoyed and after we had dinner at Bonefish Grill. It was a fun and productive week and we all had a great time together.
After some really fun activities and a great week of practice, we opened up the Spring season with a doubleheader weekend. It was a great start for our team and especially for the freshmen (Olivia, Maria and Cecily), they were really nervous but did an amazing job both days. The first dual match was on Saturday against the Spiders of Richmond. After a tough start in doubles, we won all 6 singles to win the dual match 6-1.
The second dual-match of the weekend was on Sunday against Duke, the 2nd-ranked team in the nation. It was quite an exciting dual match! We started off with a great doubles performance and we won the double's point. We had amazing singles matches and really gave Duke a run for their money. Everyone competed tremendously well and the matches were really close – really fun to watch! I want to congratulate all the girls for their effort and especially Leeza and Maria. Leeza battled three sets at the number 1 spot to beat one of the best players in the nation! Maria, after losing the first set, came back to win in a wonderful three set match for her second singles victory of the season for the Tribe!
We all played hard this weekend and it was a great way to start the season! A lot of people came out to support us and it was a really nice experience to play with supporters really engaged in the matches. Our next two matches are both at home and will be January 23th against Morgan State and the 25th against Penn State. We are all extremely excited to compete again and very appreciative of your support!
GO TRIBE!!!!
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Cecily Wuenscher
November 10, 2014
For our last tournament of the Fall, the Tribe travelled to North Carolina to compete in the Kitty Harrison Invitational. As we were nearing the end of our journey, Jesse pulled the van into a parking lot, which resulted in screams of joy from Leeza, Julia and Mel. For me (Cecily), Liv and Maria (the Freshmen) this was all very confusing but we soon found out that the building opposite to us was the very same building that the coaches had taken the team to last year for some laser-tag and go-karting. It was a really fun surprise to have at the end of a long car journey and provided a lot of entertainment, as well as a slight work out. In laser-tag, Leeza somehow managed to shoot her own team more than the opposition but by the last round she was able to redeem herself with a score of 3,000. On the first day of the Invite, the Tribe played doubles against Wake Forest and East Carolina, beating them 2-1. After that we played 6 singles matches against a mix of different schools. Julia, Leeza and Jeltje played girls from North Carolina, Liv and Mel played girls from Wake Forest, and Maria and I played two Elon girls. The matches were very mentally challenging and at the end of the day the team decided that controlling our reactions would be the main focus for the rest of the tournament. Day 2 of the Invite saw the Tribe matched up against North Carolina State for doubles and Davidson for singles. In the doubles, Julia and Liv put up a great fight narrowly losing out 8-7 after coming back from 7-3 down. In the singles the Tribe won all 6 matches and stayed positive the whole way through. Julia played an epic match at the no.1 spot, taking the win 10-5 in the 3rd-set breaker after losing the opening set. On the last day we played against Elon using simultaneous format. This is a new format that is being considered for use in the Spring season and consists of 4 singles matches and 1 doubles match being played, rather than the usual 6 singles and 3 doubles. The matches were a lot tougher than the previous day and tested us much more mentally, however the team did a great job of managing their emotions! Mel fought really hard in singles but narrowly lost 10-5 in the 3rd-set breaker. Overall the Tribe won 4-1 and it was a nice way to end the season. The whole team made many improvements and the support throughout was great! Even Jesse's family made the trip down to support us and it was great to get to know them at dinner on Saturday night. An additional congratulations to Jeltje and Leeza who won the Kitty Harrison doubles award this weekend. It's always a pleasure to see them play together so hopefully some of you can come see them play next time! The Tribe start the Spring season on January 17th against Richmond at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. Hope to see you there! Cecily |
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Olivia Thaler
October 20, 2014
This weekend the tribe women's tennis team traveled 4 hours (not by private jet) to The Virginia Institute of Technology to play regionals. The tournament was packed with the best players from almost every team in the region. Regionals was the first tournament this fall that served as an individual, rather than team, event. That means it could have been possible for 2 players from William and Mary to play each other. Thank god that didn't happen, because I wouldn't have known who to root for. Go Tribe? The usual "team atmosphere" our team is known for wasn't as prevalent as it usually is. I believe that it is difficult to emphasize "team spirit" in a tournament based on individual success. The court assignments were scattered rather than everyone playing next to each other. Regardless, we all did our best to remain supportive and cheer on our teammates, even in the brutal wind and cold. Oh, that's another thing- the weather conditions were very, very frustrating. If you didn't know already, one of the worst things a tennis player can hear before they go on for a match is, "it's really cold and windy outside." No tennis player enjoys playing in layers of clothing...especially the one that comes from Miami (me). Thankfully, after the first day the tournament director decided to switch to indoor courts for majority of the matches. We had some difficulty with doubles this tournament. Besides the 35 mph winds, the tribe had trouble finishing on important points. But don't worry everyone, we are still getting better and developing great doubles skills that will lead us to success in the spring season. All other teams watch out :) As far as singles, Leeza continued to play very well, making a huge statement in the main draw of the tournament. Jeltje won 2 rounds before falling to a very good player from UVA. Liv (me) lost in the second round of the main draw. Maria and Jules both won their consolation match, and Cec fought hard but lost in close matches. Cec did great considering she was sick the last couple of weeks and hadn't touched a racquet until the first day of the tournament! One last note- EVERYONE GO FOLLOW @tribewomenstennis ON INSTAGRAM!!! Love, Liv |
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Maria Groener
October 15, 2014
Hey!
Our second tournament was at Yale! It was a good weekend with a lot of good tennis and team spirit! Only six out of eight players went, but we would really wish that Ces and Jackie would have been there too! For Liv and me (the freshmen) it was our first trip with the team (if we do not consider the camping). We took a private jet from Richmond to New Haven, I think for most of the people on the team it was the first time on a private jet.
We played three dual-matches this weekend against Dartmouth, Yale and Brown! On Friday everyone played great doubles and showed improvement in many of the things we have been working on. The singles matches on Friday were a bit though, but the whole team gave a good effort. On Saturday the singles were overall better and on Sunday both singles and doubles were pretty good. Everyone played good matches, but especially Liv had an amazing fight on Sunday where she won 7-6 in the third set.
Everyone showed some good strengths on the court during the weekend. Leeza kicked butt in all her single matches, you don't want to get in a baseline rally with her.
Mel and Liv fought their heart out in their singles matches and showed great fighting spirit in some tough three sets matches.
Jules played the No. 1 singles, she played good matches and showed a really good attitude on the court.
Jeltje was toying with her opponents with tough serves, volleys and shots between the legs.
We didn't only play tennis during this weekend though. On Friday after the matches, we went to an apple orchard. We got there only five minutes before they closed, but we were able to pick some really good apples and take some nice pictures.
During this trip we also discovered a couple of things about some of the team members that you maybe did not know. Julia has a video on YouTube with almost 8000 views where she explains what "swag" is. We have not found Jules' video yet, so if someone finds it, please let us know. Liv used to make mix CDs and also dance hip hop, we wished she had put it on YouTube, but unfortunately no.
Next week we will be playing regionals in Blacksburg. Let's go Tribe!!
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Jackie Lee
September 23, 2014
Hello All! After a long three days the Tribe has finished the 2014 Tribe Invitational tournament. For the very first time, the 2014-2015 Tribe team competed their hearts out both indoors and outdoors at our home courts. We got to see our freshies Maria, Liv and Cecily play for the first time and had the opportunity to try out various doubles combinations. Cecily, our fighting fit lefty, battled it out playing number 6 and 7 for singles and played doubles with both Julia and Mel. Maria (or "Viking", as Ty says) played number 3 singles for the Tribe and had some unbelievably exciting singles matches. Olivia, with her parents cheering on the side, played number 2 singles and 1 doubles with both Jeltje and Leeza. Mel, our ferocious Frenchie (who is celebrating her birthday today!), played number 5 singles and had a particularly exciting 3 set comeback match on day 3 of the Tribe Invite. Julia, playing number 4, frustrated her opponents with her speed and fight as always. Leeza, playing at number 6, showed everyone why they should be scared of facing the Tribe. Jeltje, leading the way at number 1 in both singles and doubles, showed her experience and expertise by winning all of her matches, including 3 impressive singles matches (and 2 extra-impressive between the legs shots). But when all the matches were over, the rackets were away, and your Tribe team got talking together, it was not results that came to the forefront of our tournament wrap-up. It was the enjoyment we all had in playing the sport we love, playing at home in front of our fans, and growing together as a team, that really made the weekend memorable. We really felt each others energy out there, and hopefully you felt it too! We had such a great time this weekend and we hope that you all did too! Thank you for those who came out to support us, and we hope to see you all out there again in the Spring. Much love, and happy pumpkin season! Jackie & the Tribe tennis girls  |
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Jackie Lee
August 14, 2014
Our dearest Tribe fans,
As the 2014 fall season draws nearer, the very international W&M women's tennis team are all wrapping up holidays all over the world and preparing for another new start, some of us for the first time (welcome to Olivia, Maria and Cecile)! As I write this, the two crazy dogs I am looking after for the week are running around the house playing. 20 Minutes ago they were both jumping on my bed licking me (yes, this is my new alarm clock). So I thought I would take this time to fill in everyone about the team's summer break. While I unfortunately didn't get to go back to Australia this summer, I had an amazing time travelling around Boston, Cape Cod and Maine. Here is a picture of one of the many jet ski trips I was fortunate enough to take at Maine during my very first 4th of July holiday.
Over in Holland, Jeltje has had many visitors including our own Leeza, Masha and Hope (we will miss you Masha & Hope!)
Meanwhile, Julia has been working on both her tennis and golf swing
Leeza has been making all of us jealous this summer by taking a big trip around Europe, sending us photos of her in every city she visits. Here's one of her shots from France
So from all of the girls on the team, we will be back before you know it, excited to strive for a bigger and better season! Can't wait to see you all again. I hope your summer has been as great as all of ours have been!
Love all the W&M tennis girls
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