Nov. 11, 2002

USF Women's tennis team played two competitive tournaments this fall season at St Mary's Invitational and the 2002 Omni Hotel ITA Regionals hosted by Stanford. The team has competed against some very strong teams like Cal and Stanford, but the Lady Dons had some good showings. USF head Coach Hilary Somers gave us her insight on her team's performances.

"We had a pretty good season. The St Mary's Tournament was an eye opener, especially for the freshmen. They realized what the tennis college experience is like. They needed to adjust to the college tennis level, but they had a good showing and improved round after round. The Lady Dons were also confronted by the Cal Bear team, who showed an extremely competitive level of tennis."

USF #1Gabi Ruiz also believes the USF women's tennis team had a good starting season. "We played a lot of Pac-10 schools and big name programs. We had some good matches against them."

Individually, Ruiz, a junior, was very successful at the Omni Hotels tournament hosted by Stanford. She fell to Cal's #6 seed Catherine Lynch, #32 ranked in the nation, in round of 64. "I lost to a girl from Cal, but I think I played pretty well (6-4, 6-4). I feel I can compete with the elite players," said Ruiz.

Coach Somers also commented on Beate Bernhoft's good performance:. "Beate, who had to adjust from the clay courts to hard courts, also had a good showing at the Omni Hotels tournament, where she won the first round. Beate also did well at St Mary's, where she lost in the quarterfinals of the consolation singles against Casey Knutson of USC."

The Lady Dons are now preparing the spring season. "Our fall season is over, but we are still practicing until Thanksgiving. The girls will have a program to work on over Spring break. When they come back, they will need to be ready to start a short season, beginning February 1st and ending April 13th. We will have 23 matches in two months. The team needs to come fit, conditioned and confident with their games," said Head Coach Somers.

Coach Somers is optimistic for the spring season. "What I learned at St Mary's is that our team is on level with other teams. Now we need to get everybody to peak at the same time."

Her objective for the spring "is to step up to the next level of play in the West Coast Conference. The team gained a lot of experience playing tough competition in some highly competitive tournaments. It will help them to build confidence in their games."