Tribute to the Ladies Tennis Team – MAC Champions

[GoZipsGoZips]

Tribute to the Ladies Tennis Team – MAC Champions

Miami (Ohio) has ruled Ladies Tennis for a few years now… and this is one of their beat teams to date… with 4 seniors… and a 1-2 duo in Dracheva and Danesis that is the best duo in MAC tennis. In 2011… Miami was poised to repeat as MAC Champions…

This was a feat on par with what the basketball team was asked to do in the MAC Tournament… to win the MAC Tournament… and to do so by playing the #3, #2 and #1 seeds.

Our normal Tennis lineup in on the left… but due to an apparent injury involving Angelina… she was asked to drop down to #4 and try to stay alive… and everyone was asked to beat the MAC Powerhouse… Miami… who had just defeated Akron for the regular season MAC Championship the previous weekend.

Miami… apparently sensing an issue with Angelina… pulled off a switch too. They apparently felt that their #5 player could match Angelina… and moved their #4 player down to face Anya at #5.

#1 - Zara...........Zara..........Miami #1

#2 – Angelina.......Angelika......Miami #2

#3 – Angelika.......Prang.........Miami #3

#4 – Prang..........Angelina......Miami #5

#5 – Anya...........Anya..........Miami #4

#6 – Natalia........Natalia.......Miami #5

The result of this lineup was that Angelika and Prang were at a disadvantage... being forced to play up one notch... Angelina was at a disadvantage as she was not her usual self... and Anya was at a disadvanatge as she would be facing the #4 Miami player... instead of the #5 lady who sho lost to the precious weekend.

This is what happened...

Zara – Zara does not look like a #1 Singles tennis player as she is not a tall, blonde Russian (Ruskaya). She’s a vertically challenged Armenian… and being vertically challenged… she doesn’t have the advantage of the angles that most of our ladies have when returning the ball over the net. She has to be much more accurate than most of our ladies… and she is that… accurate… with power and great mobility… she overpowers opponents. Miami tried matching both of their top players with Zara… in the regular season matchup… and in the Tournament… and Zara beat them both. The MAC simply doesn’t have a player who can match Zara… and she’s the 3-time reigning MAC Player of the Year.

Angelina and Angelika – The twins… and twins are of course different people… and should never be described together… but I’m a twin… and I understand all of the twin stuff… and for this match… the twins both performed the same. Angelina… out #2 tennis player got beat by an Akron girl named Stephanie Danesis… in the regular season match against Miami a week ago. Stephanie apparently chose Miami as it was a better tennis school a few years ago. Right after that match… Angelina… apparently injured… was dropped to #3 singles and got beat against the #3 Ball State girl… and Angelina was the only one on the team to lose!!! In the real world… with a healthy Angelina… this would never happen. In the MAC Tournament… Angelina played #4 singles… in all 3 matches… and won the first two… but lost at #4 to Miami. Angelina’s move down to #4 singles meant a move up for two ladies… Angelika and Prang. Angelika had to play Stephanie Danesis… a Miami player who could beat any #1 player in the MAC… except Zara. Angelika played tough…. and gave Danesis all that she could handle… but fell short. These two ladies are amazing. Last year… Angelika and Angelina went to California for the holiday break… joined a California tennis tournament… won the doubles… and met each other for the singles Championship. They decided to be Co-Champs instead of playing the match.

Prang is the 3rd twin… but somehow got separated at birth… and was raised in Thailand instead of Indonesia. Prang is what most people would consider… a bit… goofy… but not on the tennis court. Due to Angelina moving down to #4 singles… Prang… like Angelika… was asked to move up a position… and play Miami’s #3 player. Prang responded with the best performance on the team… taking Martzoff… a Miami senior who has made a living beating #3 players all year… in 3 sets. Way to go Prang!

So this was the plan… we lost to Miami in the regular season… but for the Championshipo match… we asked Angelina to try and stay competitive at #4 singles… and we asked Angelika and Prang to move up a position… to play better Maimi players.

Are you getting an understanding of what was being asked of the Ladies Tennis Team yet? This was a monumental effort… similar to the basketball team.

Anya – A few years ago, Anya was a tennis player at West Virginia State (I never heard of it either)…where she played in a tournament at West Virginia… that involved Akron also. Anya won the tournament… beating our #1 Akron girl in the process… and we managed to persuade her to join our team as a sophomore. Maybe… Anya has lost some of the fire that she had as a sophomore… or maybe Miami just has a couple of tougher than usual #5 players… as Anya dropped both decisions to Miami… last week and last weekend. I think that Anya is better than most #5 layers in college tennis… and I think that before she starts a business career (she is one of two seniors)… she should consider trying tennis for a year… in Peterburg… without being a full-time college student!! She just might have what it takes in pro tennis. If that doesn’t work… come back as an assistant coach and get your MBA.

Natalia – is another Ruskaya (a Russian female type)… and Anya brought her here from St Petersburg, Russia (we call our’s St Pete… they say Peterburg… but don’t ever argue with a Russian over the REAL St Petersburg). Natalia lost to Cara Wald in the first Miami match a week ago… and she was just asked to beat her this time. This was Natalia’s “coming of age” match… with the tournament on the line… and down one set… Natalia managed to reach inside and kick some Miami butt… winning the last two sets and giving us the match… and the MAC Championship.

But… the tournament started with Doubles… not singles… and the difference between this match and the prior match with Miami was that we took the doubles point.

The Miami super team of Danesis and Martzoff managed to kill Zara and Angelina again… just like the regular season match. They must eat more Wheaties in Miami. Up next for Akron… Prang and Angelika returned the favor… and beat Miami. Lastly… Anya and Jeramie Benjamin… both seniors… managed to shock the Miami duo of Dracheva (Miami’s #1 Singles player) and Wald. Jeramie has been playing #3 doubles all year… and occasionally plays singles. Congrats to the doubles teams for taking that first point!

Miami looses 4 seniors this year… and the new POWEHOUSE in MAC Tennis is AKRON… returning our 1-4… and having Natalia as #5… so if you know any HS ladies who have the potential of a Danesis… convey that to her.

Is anyone here connected to the tennis program... who can comment on what happened to Angelina? Will she be OK for the NCAA Tournament ?????

[72 Roo]

GZGZ,

Thanks for the deeper reporting of our ladies magnificent league championship. Makes all the more proud of them. I hope the university continues to increase the resources made available to them with the kind of commitment to excellence they have given all the Zip faithful. We are proud of you ladies!