Last week, we played the in the ACC Championships in Cary, NC.  We left a day before our first round. It was nice to go to North Carolina last week, because it was cold and rainy in College Park and much warmer in Cary.  After we arrived at the Tennis Center in Cary, we practiced for a couple of hours and then went to the hotel.

As usual, we had team dinner at a restaurant the evening before the match. The restaurant was situated in a big shopping mall, so after the dinner, we had time to hang out in the mall. It was team shopping, and it was fun! Imagine: you and your friends are getting free samples of tea. The shop assistant is happy that you came, and she begins telling you a long story about benefits of green and black tea. However, when your friends are done with their tea, they just disappear... and you are left one-on -one with the disappointed shop assistant. You never get this feeling if you are shopping alone...

Unfortunately, the next day was not lucky for our team. We lost to Georgia Tech 0-4. In doubles, we definitely did better than in our previous match against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, but our singles results were not good enough to raise our score from our previous defeat to the Yellow Jackets.

However, some good things also happened last week. For the first time, our senior Vroni appeared in the ITA singles rankings. Vroni also became the Terp of the Week, and was named to the All-ACC team! It is cool when all these things take place in one week, especially if it is the last week of your college tennis career.

We have not had tennis practice since our last match. Now it is the time to have a few days off and to study intensely, because it's the end of the semester and final exams are coming. It is also a good time for team activities. For example... last Friday, we were told to come at the Varsity Team House at 1 p.m. Since our conditioning usually takes place at VTH, everybody was ready for a hard practice. But, as we learned later, our "practice" on that day was to write letters to thank the Terrapin Club donors! 

I think last Sunday was one of the first times that freshmen organized a team activity without the participation of our coaches, Welma or Vroni. Tali, Olya, Sarah and me went to yoga class. That was the first yoga class in my life. I think that was actually quite hard and very useful for tennis players who often have problems with their backs because of weaker muscles of the non-dominant side.

Hopefully, during the next couple weeks, our team will enjoy studies and get good grades on our finals!

Go Terps!

Olga 

We beat Duke! Yes! I just wanted to start writing my blog after this great news.

After our unfortunate loss against NC State, we had a brief meeting after the match, during which Coach Panova told us that next week we were playing against some of the best teams in the country, so the last thing we should be is scared to play. We have to get out there and enjoy ourselves during our last matches this season, and just fight and do our best. 

The week passed by pretty fast and I thought I just played against NC State yesterday, but nope, it was already Friday and time to fight against Duke! I could feel the excitement and tension in the air on Friday morning when we were having lunch in the team room. Although everybody was pretty quiet, I could see in my teammate's eyes that they were hungry to beat the No. 11 team in the country!

The doubles matches were played at No. 1 and No. 2, so me and Gaby were cheering on the side. How hard it is to watch from the side, and not be able to play! Sometimes you just want to run on the court take the racquet and help your teammates to finish that point/game. It is so much more stressful to watch them play. Maros, Dasha, Welma, I understand you now completely! (Well, Welma is going to play with us already next season, yay!!) When Sarah and Vroni won their doubles, which got us a doubles point, my sixth sense was telling me that it's going to be a great day for the Terps.  

Even during my match this feeling of overexcitement would not let me make smart, wise decisions on the court. After I unfortunately finished my not so a long match, I started to put all of my energy that wouldn't let me play calmly into cheering for my teammates. After Gaby won her match (great job, it was awesome!) I was just overwhelmed with feelings! That was the time when Vroni got to her third set. It was really tight. Everybody was jumping and screaming after every point. I honestly thought that I would cramp from the tension in my body! Those last few points that Vroni played were probably one of the most stressful (in a good way though) minutes of my life!  Even when she was down 5-3, we were even trying to follow some rituals before every point she played. And our senior did it! Even being down 5-3, she beat that girl in the end! To say that I was happy is like saying nothing. The only one who didn't really show any emotions was Vroni, but considering that Vroni is one of the calmest people I ever seen in my life it wasn't that surprising. How I understood that she was really happy? When she suggested to celebrate our win by going into pouring rain and swimming in the pool that is on the mall! And guess what, we did it! That's how we celebrated our great win over No. 11 team in the country. Also one of the greatest things is that our coach Dasha promised to dye her hair red if we would beat Duke. And surprisingly, she really did! Well, it wasn't really red, it was pink, but that's not the point. The point is, my great respect to Dasha for keeping her word! 

After the day off on Saturday we were about to face the No. 1 team in the country, and this day was really special also because it was last match for Vroni, senior day! So everybody got up early and went to the team room where we were supposed to meet for breakfast. Welma and Sarah did a great job on organizing things. You should guys do a major connected with creativity for sure! We made a surprise for our dear Senior citizen by decorating the team room and presenting her a photo frame with the picture signed by all of us. Before the match, we put a "war paint" of our faces with red and black colors. Some of us even painted our hair red with the washable paint so our coach didn't feel as bad. It was a really fun preparation, I think we should incorporate it more in our pre-match routine. 

To be honest, playing against UNC showed me how much we are capable of. Not taking into account scores, we weren't much worse than our opponents. There are small, but essential things that we need to change, but we are working on it! We are a young team and still have a some things to learn, but I am sure that we are on our way to success. Next season is going to get much better. And I want to say thanks to our senior Vroni again for being a great leader of our team. I can imagine how hard it is when there five freshman and you are the only one experienced. But you taught us things, I remember you saying that the most important part is that we have to be like a family. We're getting there, and you played a large role in it. Great person, great roommate, and a great teammate! I'm sure you will do fantastic in your life!

We are leaving to ACC championship this week, so good luck to us!

Go Terps

Olga

On Friday, we drove down to Wake Forest. We slept for most of the way, lulled to sleep by Coach Panova's wonderful road trip karaoke/sing along.

Despite getting caught in traffic, we arrived in time to practice for an hour and eat dinner.

This time Olga and I were roomies, and as all good roommates do, we took part in deep, thought-provoking conversations. The question of the day was this: if a tree falls and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

The team insists that no, it doesn't...

But *I* still believe in you, tree-noise. I believe in you like I believe in unicorns and Disney magic...

Agree to disagree.

Over dinner, the twins, Olya and I discussed countries, different languages and our dream destinations (some of which include Iceland, Thailand, France and New Zealand). In fact, we're in the process of planning a great team trip to Siberia. (Better pack your parkas, kids! It's gonna be cold!!!)

The next day, we played against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. We won the doubles point, which marked my and Olya's first win as a doubles team, but we eventually lost in a very close singles match. Afterwards, we drove down to Raleigh, where the team spent the rest of the afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful weather, while I went and met up with my Aunt and Uncle.

We went to dinner (Italian again... you gotta love Italian), where we ate and attempted to decipher the strange and mysterious hieroglyphics written on the walls. After seeing all of the unique and inspiring 'artwork', we just had to get crayons. Unfortunately, there was a strict 'no drawing on the walls' rule... but that's ok, the tables were covered in paper. Of course, Olya and I spent dinner filling it with doodles and SpongeBob drawings.

Meanwhile, Welma and Waiter Dan shared a very... *special* moment. (By the way, Welma, Waiter Dan says 'Hi'...)

On Sunday, we played the NC Wolfpack. My family came and cheered us on, and even though we lost again, we fought hard and worked together as a team.

Unfortunately, teamwork and positivity just don't numb the pain... so we stopped for comfort food on the way home, and Welma used this opportunity to find many new and creative ways to scare Dasha.

After a long and tiring weekend, we arrived back at campus, where we will proceed to kick our butts into high gear for this week's upcoming matches.

Go Terps!

Hello Terp Fans!

After our sing along jam session during the drive back from BWI on Sunday and a day off on Monday, we got back to preparing for our matches against no. 10 Miami and no. 20 FSU. Practice was a bit different this week because some of us were sick or had a lot of studying to do, but everybody worked hard on the court and in the gym to get ready for our ACC sunshine state schools.

On Friday, we had team breakfast at Plato's before heading to the courts. During warm-up Tally got accidentally hit by a ball which gave her a bad nose bleed a few minutes before the match. The twins had to take a bleeding time-out to stop Tally's nose bleed, but unfortunately they had to retire doubles. The other 2 doubles were fighting hard to get the doubles point. Even though Sarah and I had a great doubles win, we weren't able to secure the doubles point. Luckily, Tally's nose bleed had stopped and she was ready for singles. But it didn't go as well as we wanted to and lost all our singles matches. It was a disappointing loss but we had to look forward to our next match against FSU on Sunday. 

The next day, we had team practice and Welma got to play in her first field hockey game after joining the team earlier this semester. Welma was really excited to finally compete again. Her last tennis match was in October before having shoulder surgery. We (Olya, Sarah, Tally, Burce, Dasha and I) went to see Welma and our field hockey team play against the defending national champion Princeton and beat them 3-0. After the game, we all went to dinner at Ledo's where we had a great time especially Welma. 

Back to tennis, on Sunday we had team breakfast again at Plato's (they should know our orders by now) before our warm up against FSU. It was our second home outdoor match of the season. In the morning it was chilly, but after the warm-up the sun was out and it seemed like a beautiful day for an upset. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get into the match and make it hard on FSU. We were already down 5-0 before we got our first win of the day at no. 1 singles.Gabby came close to our second win for the day but fell in the super tiebreaker. 

Overall, we didn't have our best weekend of the season but there are still a few matches left to fight back as a team and show people how good we can really be. We're looking forward to take on Wake Forest and NC State and get our first conference win of the season! 

Go Terps!

-Vroni 

Hey Terps Fans!

After a few days on the road in the South, the team and I just finished wrapping up back to back matches against Clemson and Georgia Tech. It was a refreshing change of peace to finally have some long awaited warmth and sunshine. It was great to be able to play outdoors in nice weather (granted, we did move inside halfway through the Georgia Tech match due to rain). The trip as a whole had its ups and downs, but was full of memorable experiences none the less.

Leaving our dorms bright and early at 6:30 a.m Friday morning, we left for BWI to travel to our first match against Clemson. As always, we were kept entertained throughout the flight by sitting next to Dasha (who by now I'm sure you guys are aware of her fear of flying). Welma and I comforted her by explaining in detail the safety procedures we should take in the event that we crashed. After arriving in Clemson, we got a bite to eat at their famous Mellow Mushroom, or as I mistakenly would call it, the Marvelous Shroom. Tomato, tomahto. As if I wasn't already hungry enough, we had to wait for our food for a good hour and 15 minutes! Not sure if they were growing the food in the back, or if it had something to do with us being Terps from Maryland, but we have a feeling it was the latter. In any case, the food was, as Welma would say, yumm-a! The rest of the day was spent getting used to their courts, having a nice dinner, and resting up for the following day.

I love the hotels we stay at because they always have a great breakfast, one that I can go to any time I want in the morning. So, me being me, I woke up extra early Saturday morning to be able to enjoy a long relaxing breakfast. Unfortunately, we were not able to pull a W against Clemson, losing 1-6. But we did win the doubles point! All three of our doubles matches were awesome, and probably our best yet. So even though we lost overall, we have some good matches to feed off of for the future. After playing Clemson we headed even farther down South into Atlanta to play Georgia Tech on Sunday, but of course not before making a stop at Dasha's (and now Welma's) favorite, Pita Pit. For me though, the highlight of that meal was watching on replay, the UConn women's basketball head coach going CRAZYY over a call in the game against Maryland in the NCAAs.

On Sunday we suffered a disappointing 0-4 loss to Georgia Tech. On the bright side, near the end of our post match meeting I think we were finally able to make some headway and progress in what we need to do for the future. So after showering and packing up we headed off the airport to fly back home. The Super Shuttle drive back from BWI was one for the books. The 45 minute drive from Baltimore was made short with the team's sing along jam session. The entire ride, Olya, Welma, (and at times Dasha and Maros), and I sang along and danced to different songs: Chicken Fried, Don't Stop Believin' and Hey Mickey, to name a few. A thanks to Dasha, for videotaping most of it, videos in which I've watched over 20 times since. It doesn't get old. In fact, our singing was so pitch perfect that I was thinking we should just ditch the whole tennis team thing, and start an a cappella group. But then I was like eh, betta not. But in all seriousness, that was one of the most fun experiences I've had this semester.

Overall, despite the losses, it was a great trip and learning experience for us. We're now back at home, using this week of practice in preparation for Miami and Florida State this weekend on our home turf. Come support! GO TERPS!

Thanks for reading,

Sarah

While other Maryland students were traveling in search of warmer weather to enjoy spring break, we traveled to a snowy Providence to face Brown University. In the days leading up to our match we worked hard in the gym and on the court to get ready to face our Ivy League opponents.  

We arrived in Providence around noon on Friday and headed straight to Brown University to practice and get a feel for their courts. At the end of practice the coaches played in so that everyone could play some doubles points. After practices we checked into our hotel and had a couple of hours to relax before dinner.

After dinner at Outback Steakhouse some of the girls came up to our room and we watched a movie together. This weekend I got to room with Tally and even though I would say I know my teammates pretty well, I always seem to learn new things about them during this time.

We are allowed to go down for breakfast whenever we want to since some of us prefer more time than others. I don't want to mention any names, but Sarah is a bit of a slow eater. Needless to say she was at breakfast before any of us got there.

Our match did not go as well as we had hoped. We started off by winning the doubles point, but could not bring that momentum into singles. This was a disappointing loss for us as a team and it shows us that there are still a lot of things that we need to work on. The exciting part about all of this is that this team has so much potential. We are still young and we are growing and learning every day.

Even though we did not perform as well as we would have liked to, this is another hurdle we have to overcome as a team. We will learn from the mistakes we made against Brown and work hard to improve for our matches against Georgia Tech and Clemson. 

- Welma 

I think this week was probably one of the toughest weeks of the season. First, most of us had midterm exams. Second, we had two very close matches over the weekend. One of them we won, and the other one we lost.

We started the week out by analyzing our weaknesses. After two defeats in a row last weekend, it was perhaps the only right thing to do, because you get stronger only if you learn from your losses.

Everyone on the team remembers the first practice of the week. We had to do synchronized jumping jacks as a team. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and didn't finish this exercise as many of us simply lost attention. This showed us that the reason we're losing very close matches is simply because of a lack of focus.

Over the weekend, we had two games. The one on Saturday against Penn was really inspiring for me, and I hope the whole team feels the same way as I do, as this match is one of my best memories from the first half of the season. As I recall from one of our losses several weeks ago, we were told, "You don't look like a team. If you were a team, you would feel it". It was on Saturday that I truly felt it.

On Sunday we lost. Though every single loss brings disappointment, it also gives motivation. We were close, and it means that we have to work harder from the very first practice. Surely all of us should bring more excitement and interest to every single drill, because if you are really motivated and enjoy doing even the toughest drills, there will not be a team strong enough to beat you...  We must do it, Terps!

Coming to Maryland has brought a lot of new in my life, but surprisingly, the most considerable changes for me were not the new climate, language or the different style of life, but understanding that I am now a part of a team.

This has a great amount of advantages since tennis is usually an individual sport, and now I feel support and help from the team. It also requires a lot from me because I must respond by giving best attitude towards what I am doing and help and support the people with whom I have got to work, travel and hopefully make progress. Even though I have been playing college tennis for just two months I feel that this experience has already made me learn something very important. Now I am far more concentrated on the court than I used to be even 2-3 months ago, because now I represent not just myself, but also my university and my team. 

Second, I have started working harder during practices than I used to before I came here because having matches every week makes you finally understand that you have no time to procrastinate and that every single practice may allow you to become a better player if you have a great wish to work and a clear goal. Now, I enjoy tennis more.

Go Terps!
Tali

Almost half of a season has already passed. The time goes by really fast when we are excited about what we are doing. Every day that we are here, we get new impressions and priceless experience. 

We work hard both on and off the court, and I think we all are getting better every day.

Most of our matches are really tough, but it is adjusting to difficulties that makes us stronger.  Personally, I feel that I have a long way to go. But that's what I like about being on this team and competing in the ACC. As long as I am not satisfied with the way that I'm playing, I can keep trying to do better and keep moving forward.

Being a Terp means paying a lot of attention to the mental part of tennis. Since the first day of practice, our coaches have been very careful about our attitude. Right away they showed us that they will never accept a defeat. 

I mean, we are supposed to do everything to win and believe that we can win in any situation and against any opponent. 

Unfortunately, the last weekend was not lucky for our team. 

We lost our Saturday match against the University of Virginia and won only one doubles match. However, I was very happy about that doubles match. We showed everything we were able to do on the court on that day. 

Also, I was very proud of Vroni, who was very close to beat a player ranked in the top 10.

On Sunday, we played at Virginia Tech. Thanks to the great job of Tali and Olya, we gained two points on courts 5 and 6. But for most of us, that day was really hard, because we were simply not able to implement what we had been working on the week before. Again, we could win more matches. Sarah's singles match and Gabby and Olya's doubles match were very close.

Anyway, we got a very good learning experience last weekend. We fought hard and we revealed the things that we need to improve to make a step forward. 

We have four days to practice and get ready before our next matches. I am sure that we will do better.

Go Terps!

Olga

We began our week after a tough weekend playing matches. We spent a lot of energy because playing both Saturday and Sunday isn't that easy. Our Saturday match against Columbia opened up my eyes to a lot of things. At this point, I realized how important it is to act as a team. Before that, our opponents at home weren't that strong. This time, we faced a team that was ranked in top 60. It was a challenging match for us, and I felt like what we needed to do was stay together, but under the pressure that Columbia created by being energetic, we were really quiet.  The coaches tried to explain to us that our main problem, wasn't technique, physical condition, or that we were much weaker then Columbia. We just simply needed to be more energetic and aggressive in positive way. After our coaches talked to us, I had a lot to think about on the Saturday night. I think we all did.

The most important thing is that we didn't give up! We had a team talk, and decided to try bring our team together. It is really tough goal for Coach Panova and ourselves to make a team out of five freshman, even though for Sarah it's a second semester. So during our talk, we tried to find our weak spots, and came to conclusion that we should spend more time together! So on Saturday night the baby Terps (freshmen), Vroni and Welma watched a movie in the team room. Sarah picked the movie and proved that she has great taste because everybody seemed to enjoy watching it!

Spending time together helps a lot. It helps us to get to know each other more, and helps the veterans teach baby Terps what it's like to be a team. We could see the progress on the court the next day as we beat Richmond 6-1!

We had the following Monday off, to rest and think over our recent experience. It was important to start our week off well, so we could move forward and get stronger before our upcoming match against VCU. We had to work a lot on our energy, and our coaches gave us a lot of exercises for that so we could practice our cheering and acting as a team. We actually practiced for the first time outside on Wednesday. What a great feeling! So much more freedom. I hope that spring will come soon and that warm weather will come with it!

Friday morning we headed to Richmond. It was a long trip, but we seemed to enjoy it, playing songs, talking and making jokes. During lunch before the match, everybody looked exited to play against such a great team. You could see that we were a team and even the waitress tried to join our conversation because it looked very energetic and fun. We came on court with a different attitude, ready to fight and support each other! Although you could see we were a little nervous, because the doubles started a little tight. It was the second time Gabi and I had played together and it was still sometimes confusing, but we were trying hard and I'm sure we will get much better with a little more team effort and time. We will get much stronger. In singles, we showed so much more energy than before! Our opponents might have been a little more consistent, but the way we were acting on the court, it looked like we had won. Losing 4-3 wasn't that bad because we really showed the improvement in our attitude.

During the weekend we got some rest and we are now ready to work hard, be energetic, and have fun as a team on and off the court. We have to enjoy hitting every ball, as Coach Panova said, that's where the energy will come from. Now we know that and will work on improving our tennis skills for our next match against Virginia on Saturday!

Lets go Terps!

Olga 

Hello Terp Fans!

After some tough and disappointing losses against BC and Harvard, the Terps were ready to go back on the courts and prepare for the next match against Towson in two weeks. The losses against BC and Harvard showed us that we still had to improve individually and more importantly as a team. For many of us, tennis has always been an individual sport, but college tennis is all about being part of a team. To be part of a team means that you're not only responsible for your own actions, but also for your teammate's actions. As Coach Panova says, "A team is only as strong as it weakest player."

The first week of practice contained some struggles and challenges that we had to face as a team. One of the challenges was to lead practice on our own. The coaches were at practice to help, but wouldn't tell us what to do. The first time we had to lead practice on our own was quite unexpected, which resulted in an interesting and uncoordinated practice. The next day, we got a second chance on leading our own practice. This time we knew what was expected from us. The practice was better coordinated and we had more energy as the day before, but we still had important improvements to make as a team.

The second week started off with the giving out iPads to all student-athletes by the athletic department, funded by the NCAAs Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund. Of course, we were all very excited to get the iPads that will help us in the classroom and help us academically when we are on the road for matches. After getting our iPads before practice on Monday, the Terps were ready to work together, improve individually and as a team, and to prepare for the match against Towson. The next few days of practice showed off the improvements we're making as a team, but the real test would come against Towson on Friday.

On Friday, we had our third home game of the season against Towson. After the losses against BC and Harvard, the team was looking for a W and to implement the improvements we made over the past two weeks. We secured the doubles point quickly with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, while No. 3 doubles was 7-2 up. After a short break we went into singles where we cruised to wins on 5 out of 6 courts. Only Gabby had a tight match at No. 5 singles, but secured the win and our third clean sweep of the season by winning the super tiebreaker 10-2.

The 7-0 win over Towson was a great win for us a team, especially since we were able to implement what we had been working on for the past two weeks. There are still things we will have to keep working on individually and as a team, but the important part is that we're getting better every day. Overall, the struggles and challenges of the past two weeks have made us stronger as a team and we're looking forward to take on No. 70 Columbia and Richmond this upcoming weekend to get some more W's.

Go Terps!

-Vroni   

Fresh from Boston, the Terps just finished wrapping up an eventful trip after competing against Boston College and Harvard this past weekend. These last few days have been particularly exciting as it was our first away competition, but more importantly, marked the first of our ACC matches this season. Surprisingly, traveling together for the first time west a lot smoother than expected, but certainly made for a hilarious and entertaining trip none the less.

 The girls were able to get a few hours of classes in before heading off to BWI Thursday morning. After grabbing some lunch, we were off to Boston! The immense amount of turbulence, combined with Coach Panova's fear of flying, made for a hilarious flight. Once in Boston, it was time to hit the courts and get down to business. Luckily, we were to practice on the same courts we were going to play on the following day, allowing us to get used to the fast-paced courts of Boston College's home turf.

The following day during our pre-match lunch, Welma gave the team a good quote to embrace. As said by John McEnroe, "Champions find a way to win, even when they aren't playing well." Moving into our match later that afternoon, we went into it with this mindset. We were all excited, but a bit nervous, to play our first conference match against BC. We did well in doubles, with Olga and Tally clinching the doubles point for us in a tight tiebreaker. In singles, we were only able to capture two out of the three matches we needed in order to win, causing us to fall short 4-3 for the overall score. On a higher note, Vroni was able to win her match at the no. 1 position, earning her first win over a ranked player. Congrats, Vroni!!

On Saturday, after packing up, we headed into Cambridge to play our next match against Harvard. When we first got to their athletic complex, we spent 15 minutes walking in a big circle in the freezing cold trying to find the courts, when really they were only about one minute from where we had parked. Let's just say that was part of our warm up. We ended up having a disappointing 6-1 loss, but we know what we all need to work on for the coming weeks, both individually and as a team.

From the courts, it was straight to the airport; time to head home. While waiting at the gate, we all huddled around Welma's laptop watching hilarious videos. The plane ride back was equally funny, making jokes alongside Coach Panova while waiting for the impending take off. The final leg of our trip was highlighted by a prank the coaches, Vroni, Welma and I played on the four freshmen, as well as a stolen laptop score for me (that was fun).

These past three weeks have been marked with a lot of "firsts" for us all, both good and bad. Even for the upperclassmen, and second semester veteran like myself, we're being exposed to new experiences as a team every day. All in all, our experiences so far are propelling us forward and making us a better team. We look forward to working hard in these upcoming weeks as we prepare for our next match against Towson, and the future matches to come.

Thanks for reading!

GO TERPS!

Sarah

Every week, a member of the women's tennis team will write a short post about their experiences as a tennis player here at Maryland. It will serve as a way for Maryland fans to get a more up-close look at the life of a student-athlete. We're calling it "The Changeover", a term that describes when the players sit down between certain games, rest, and mentally prepare themselves for the next game. This "changeover" will be more extended, but the posts will profile the same aspects of an in-match changeover; a look inside mental and physical preparation needed to play tennis.  We hope you enjoy it! 

Greetings from Terps Tennis!

After our first weekend of competition, it is hard to believe that it is the same seven girls that arrived on campus two weeks ago. With four freshmen seeing Maryland for the first time, the past two weeks have been challenging, exciting and extremely funny. When arriving on campus, before they could even get over their jet lag, there were already a lot of things that needed to be done, including getting ready for our first match. Luckily, being on the tennis team means you already have six friends who will be your family for the next four years. Somewhere in-between practices and helping each other to get everything done, we turned into a team without even realizing it.

After hours of orientation, questions about, well, pretty much everything, and less than two weeks together, it was time for our first match. Going into the match with five freshmen you have no idea what to expect It was great to see how well all the girls fought and competed. After our 7-0 win over Howard, we had a nice team dinner at Noodles. After a lot of laughs, a few interesting stories and a lot more questions, it was time get some rest before the first week of classes.

On Friday, we had our second match against UMBC and the team once again played their hearts out and won the match 7-0. Now, after a very successful first weekend, it is time for a few days of school before we leave for Boston on Thursday. As excited as we are that we got to start the season off on a high note, we realize that this is just the foundation of what promises to be a great season. While we are working hard on the court, in the gym (and in the classroom of course), we realize how lucky we are to have the opportunity to be part of this team, and together we are going to make this journey an unforgettable experience.

GO TERPS!!!

Welma Luus