North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Women's Tennis Looks to Exceed 2006 Marks
12/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
BY TIM PEELER
With twins Allison and Lauren Barry of
“I think the great advantage we have from last year is leadership,” Olsen said after his team finished its fall tournament season in November. “We have a lot of girls who have experienced a lot and we have a strong push of talent coming, with our freshmen coming in and showing a high competitive level on the court.”
Olsen has high expectations for his three incoming freshmen, Berkeley Brock of Knoxville, Tenn.; Daria Petrovic of Marabella,
“It’s been very different than what I am used to, but in a good way,” Brock said. “It is more practicing, higher intensity and conditioning. I think I have really improved in the fall. We did a lot of drills in practicing individually with the coaches in finding our weaknesses with them.”
And that is what Olsen saw with all of his newcomers.
“I saw them do some really good things on the court,” Olsen said. “I saw them make mistakes, as young players do. I think they learned a lot from the fall. They really showed their tennis level. Daria beat three girls that were ranked in the Top 40 nationally.
“They really showed what they could do on the tennis courts.”
But Olsen expects his veteran players to be a guiding force as the Wolfpack attempts to improve on last year’s 17-10 overall and 4-7 ACC record, establishing a school record for overall team wins. The Wolfpack also made its second trip to the NCAA Tournament and won its first post-season match, defeating No. 24 William & Mary, 4-3.
And, despite the loss of All-ACC selection Shona Lee, a
“My expectation is that we are going to be a very dangerous team in the spring,” Olsen said.
And that is the expectation of the players, as well.
“Last year was a great year,” Allison Barry said. “We had a lot of strong players. We set a lot of school and team records. This fall, since we had three freshmen coming in, we were just learning to be a new team. But the fall went really well. The freshmen learned from the seniors and the seniors learned from the freshmen. I think we all came together and had a really strong fall.
“So we have very high expectations for the spring. I think we have a great chance to do as well as we did last year, win in the ACC Tournament and advance in the NCAAs.”
Guerra added: “I do have high expectations for our team. I think we are going to be really good.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
