What are the marks of a successful season? How about a 13-6 finish or placing second in the America East conference? How does having three standout freshmen sound? Well, it is certainly not good enough for Binghamton University’s women’s tennis.
Binghamton’s women’s tennis team looks to build on their strong 2007-08 season in the 2008-09 calendar year. In 2007-08, the Bearcats went to the American East Conference Final, where they challenged 15-time defending champion Boston Terriers in a 4-2 loss.
This year’s squad is ready to take the next step.
“We have been practicing very hard on and off the court,” sophomore Lauren Bates said. “Everyone has been pushing each other, whether it be while we’re running sprints, lifting or playing.”
This year’s team has a similar flavor to last year’s, with some players moving into different roles.
Anna Edelman, Bates, Yulia Smirnova and Danyelle Shapiro, the team’s top four players, are all back from a year ago. The keys to the team are Edelman and Bates. They went 28-3 last year in doubles, and a combined 50-14 in singles. In 2008 they were just freshmen, but now, on a team with no seniors, they have been thrust into a leadership role. This is something that Edelman has enjoyed.
“We’re a young team with only four sophomores and one junior,” Edelman said. “I am trying to take on a leadership role this year and help out the freshmen.”
Expectations are high for the Bearcats this year, and understandably so.
In 2006-07, the team lost in the America East semifinals, but built on that finish with a finals showing last season. They have also recruited four new freshmen: Jillian Santos of Flushing, N.Y.; Emma Leibowicz of Pittsburgh, Pa., Yagmur Gone of Turkey and Kamila Sherlin of Israel.
Sophomores Edelman, Bates and Smirnova played the top three positions in the lineup as freshmen and rolled to a 72-21 combined record. All three players are expected to duplicate their success and keep Binghamton near the top of the conference. The fact that team captain nominee Bates has embraced such expectations for the 2008-09 season is very encouraging.
“This year we have a great team. There is a lot of talent, and we have great chemistry. We’ve been training very hard,” Bates said.
The AE’s third banana, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), only added two freshmen to a core group that Binghamton defeated last season. In theory, Binghamton should be better than them; Boston is the one roadblock in their way. And in light of all the success that last year’s freshmen brought to Binghamton women’s tennis, whether or not the Bearcats succeed in their 2008-09 mission to win the America East Championship may depend on their first year players once again.
After all, last year saw Edelman, Bates, Smirnova and Shapiro all healthy, and in top form from start to finish. However, that was still not enough in the end to defeat a more well-rounded Boston team. This year’s freshmen may not have to put their stamp on this season quite like last year’s, but they will need to stabilize the bottom of the lineup for this team to truly move on to the next level.
The team’s holdovers seem confident that their freshmen are up to the challenge, including Edelman, who praised the new youngsters.
“All of the incoming freshmen are great. They work very hard and they have brought big games with them to Binghamton.”
While the Terriers have to be considered the favorite due to their history of winning, Binghamton is definitely the team most likely to knock them off their perch. However, if the Bearcats build on last season and get some strong play from their freshmen again, this could be their year.
Binghamton women’s tennis opens its season on Saturday with dual matches against St. Bonaventure and Marist.