As AU Women's Tennis gears up for the spring season, head coach Carol Daniels feels very good about her team's chances in the Patriot League.
"I have a lot of confidence in our chances of winning the league," she said.
"It's most likely going to come down to Army, Colgate and us," she said of the PL. "It will just boil down to which team shows up in the championship."
Although AU already lost a close 5-4 match to Army, the main part of the Eagles' schedule starts on March 8, when AU travels to Florida to battle the University of Jacksonville.
The Eagles are led by senior Katarina Kollarova, the team captain. Kollarova captured the PL Player of the Year award last year, posting records of 18-7 in singles and 15-9 in doubles. In addition, she went 5-1 in singles and 4-1 in doubles in the Patriot League.
Kollarova is looking forward to stepping up as the leader of a young squad.
"I'll need to inspire people to come to practice and work harder," she said of her captaincy. "That's what we need to do to succeed."
The other senior on the team is Kristina Georgieva, who may give Kollarova competition in the race for PL Player of the Year. Last spring, Georgieva went undefeated in the No. 2 singles spot and 18-6 overall in singles. Thus far this year, Daniels has been using her ahead of Kollarova in the No. 1 singles slot.
"Krissy came back very prepared to step up to the top position," Daniels said. "She's very driven. She takes it almost personally when the team loses."
Speaking about the possibility of winning Player of the Year, Georgieva said, "Now I'm the senior and playing No. 1, so I think I definitely have a chance to win it."
Next on the team roster is junior Sasha Zerkalova, who will be playing No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles for the team. She's still overcoming an illness that sidelined her in the fall.
"She's really been sick for most of her career here," Daniels said. "She's really a phenomenal player, and hopefully now she'll have an opportunity to show her opponents."
Playing No. 4 and No. 5 singles will be sophomore Ashley Retlev and freshman Julia Colarusso, respectively. Retlev garnered a respectable 11-11 record playing No. 5 singles last year as a freshman, and already scored a key victory in No. 4 singles against Army last month.
"Ashley has really stepped it up this year," Daniels said. "She's playing the best tennis I've seen her play here at AU."
Meanwhile, Colarusso has already begun playing big for the Eagles. She took home a victory in the No. 3 singles slot against Eastern Michigan earlier this month.
Daniels called her a "highly intelligent, complete player. When she gains enough match experience, she'll be a force to be reckoned with."
The No. 6 singles position is currently up for grabs, with many players still in the running. Among them are freshmen Tessa Hollyn-Taub and Kirsten Wegel, and sophomore Brandi Kligman.
Daniels said of Hollyn-Taub, "She's probably the most driven player on the team. She would practice 24/ 7 if she could."
Daniels added of Wegel, "She's improved a lot since she's been here, and she will be an impact player for us down the road."
Kligman played No. 6 singles last year for the Eagles. Daniels said that Kligman "has a heart of gold ... a phenomenal team player. I look forward to her becoming a team leader in the next few years."
Already, the Eagles have made huge strides in the early matches and in practice.
"We've made a lot of improvements in our doubles games," Kligman said. "After losing to Army, we're ready to beat the rest of the league."
"We played Army very close earlier this year," Kollarova said of the Eagles' main competition. "It was an important match for a lot of freshmen who were playing. They might have been nervous. I believe at the end of the season we should be able to beat Army."
With only three upperclassmen on the team, the coaching staff is looking for them to provide leadership for the many freshmen.
"Upperclassmen leadership will be a determining factor on the success of the season," Daniels said.
"Team chemistry has been very strong, which has helped the freshmen to step up," Georgieva said. "It's important that we bonded really well."
The team's first meet of the spring season is March 8 at University of Jacksonville. The first home meet is March 17 against Towson.
