Thursday, 01/12/2012

Video Highlights: http://bit.ly/yvMpvz

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Across every sport and at almost any level, there’s a sense of hope and excitement that resonates within a team heading into a new season.

Those emotions were evident when the 18th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol tennis team returned to practice this week at the Goodfriend Tennis Center - and for good reason.

“We have great energy,” co-head coach Mike Patrick, who is entering his 25th season at UT, said. “These kids work hard every day and they had all fall. We’re looking forward to the season and they’re excited about getting out here and doing work. They worked hard over the break and you can tell. They don’t have a whole lot of things to work on right now, just get ready to play.”

Tennessee has 10 more days to prepare before opening the 36th season in program history in New York at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Lady Vols won’t have any time to ease into the schedule, facing a pair of top-ten teams in No. 9 Virginia (Jan. 21) and No. 4 North Carolina (Jan. 22).

“This whole year we’re trying to get better,” Patrick said. “We’re trying to get better every day. That’s our big goal. We have the pieces to be very successful. We just have to get them some experience. There’s no way to fake that. We’re going to have to get in there and go to battle. Our preseason SEC schedule is really tough this year and it should prepare us for good conference play.”

Tennessee, which won 20 matches for the 10th time in program history in 2011, returns senior Natalie Pluskota, junior Kata Szekely and sophomore Brynn Boren - all of whom are ranked in the latest ITA singles and doubles polls. Rounding out the Lady Vols are a talented core of freshmen in Jesse Grace, Joanna Henderson, Sarah Toti and Caitlyn Williams.

The Lady Vols are ready for the season to begin, because their focus is where they want it to end.

“We have to play a tough schedule the first few weeks,” Pluskota said. “It’s good. We just need to build on it, get better, progress and ultimately get ready for the tournament in May. The goal is just to obviously win but get better, work together, find everybody’s spot and go from there.”

POISED PLUSKOTA
No stranger to injuries throughout her time at Tennessee, Pluskota is battling back from her latest setback in hope to be ready for next weekend’s season opener.

“I’ve spent most of the break trying to prepare to get ready for this spring,” she said. “I had a stress fracture in my foot, but I’m bouncing back quick. I’ve been in the pool a lot, but I’m slowly progressing back into running and getting back onto the court.”

Ranked 24th in singles and ninth in doubles, UT’s lone senior is poised for a stellar final lap.

“Natalie has done it before,” Patrick said. “Her body hasn’t been the kindest thing to her over her career, but she competes. She’s getting herself ready. I think she’s ready to jump into her senior campaign and lead this team to some good stuff.”

REWARDED WITH RANKING
Winning a combined 80 percent of her singles and doubles matches this past fall, Szekely has shown marked improvement since arriving on campus in 2011.

That improvement hasn’t gone unnoticed, as her play has her ranked in both the ITA singles and doubles polls for the first time in her career.

It was only a matter of time.
“Her first year was a little bit injury-plagued, but now she’s had a couple of years to get some good work in under her belt,” Patrick said. “She’s really turned into a nationally-ranked kind of player who can compete with everybody and who has enough experience where she’s not flustered or spooked by anything. I’m proud of her, but it’s what I expected out of her.”

Although thrilled with the accomplishment, Szekely is honed in on continuing her ascension.

“I’m really happy I finally got to the point where I have rankings in singles and doubles,” she said. “It’s really great, but my goal for the season is to try to improve and have higher rankings in both singles and doubles.”

Improving in multiple facets, Szekely’s work ethic provides a paradigm for success.

“She’s gotten quicker,” Patrick said of one of the many things the Hungary native has improved upon. “She’s gotten more explosive. She’s gotten steadier. She’s adapted to playing on hard court a little bit better. She’s just an overall better player. Kata is somebody who goes to work every day and you don’t really have to do much. She does what she’s supposed to and she improves because of it.”

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY
Along with the excitement of a new season that’s quickly approaching, Tennessee welcomed a new member to its team this week.

A successful junior player in South Africa, Jesse Grace has multiple attributes that fit with the Lady Vols.

“She’s a delightful young girl,” Patrick said. “She’s a hard worker. I think she’s really going to really help us and be able to compete right off the bat. She’s young. She has a great attitude and she’s going to learn a lot quickly.”