05-16-2002, 10:02 AM
The University of North Carolina women's tennis team takes to the courts in Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday in the school's first ever appearance in the NCAA Round of 16. In preparation for the 8 a.m. match (11 ET) with 10th-ranked Arizona State, the Carolina netters (24-4) have been heading to bed early, but no Tar Heel has spent more time in her bed in the past few days than head coach Jen Callen.
While her seventh-ranked tennis team spent time daydreaming about the advanced rounds of the 2002 NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament, Callen was happy for any sleep she could get.
"I went to bed at 7:00 (Tuesday) night and slept all the way until 7:00 this morning," Callen said on Wednesday. "Then I took a nap this afternoon. I'm having some troubles with allergies and I've been trying to prepare myself for our match."
With the recent success of the women's tennis team it's clear that Callen's allergies don't stem from winning. If that was the case, the first year coach would have been incapacitated long ago as her team embarked on a magical ride to California.
After finishing the regular season on a 12-1 tear, the Tar Heels knocked off 47th-ranked Florida State, No. 8 Wake Forest and then fourth-ranked Duke to capture the ACC Tournament in April, Carolina's first in 21 years. Winning such a tough conference helped UNC reach a national ranking of sixth and earn the right to host the school's first NCAA Regional, where they blanked Loyola (Md.) and Furman at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
The Tar Heels are in unfamiliar territory, but they're not satisfied with just making the finals.
"I'm looking forward to another opportunity to watch the team play a tough opponent," said Callen. "Hopefully I'll have another opportunity, and then another after that."
Arizona State (15-7) will definitely be a tough opponent, but the Heels have beaten them before -- and on the Sun Devils' home court, no less.
In March the Heels took Tempe by storm, defeating Marquette and then edging host ASU 4-3. Carolina entered the matches with mixed results on the young season and left Arizona brimming with confidence.
"I think that match gave us the confidence that we could be at one of the top teams in the country," said Callen of the team's previous meeting with the Sun Devils. "That was a turning point for us for the rest of the season.
"Our singles play was strong all season and our doubles teams are playing with more confidence now. Overall, we're in a much better position now than the first time we played Arizona State, but they've improved as well."
One weapon the Heels have in their arsenal is a depth that qualifies them as a legitimate title contender. While some teams would love just to have the No. 34 ITA-ranked player on board, the Heels have her -- and she's playing number three.
Julie Rontondi, winner of 17 straight, has thrived at the three-spot this season with No. 14 Kate Pinchbeck and No. 36 Marlene Meija playing ahead of her. All three players made the All-ACC team, in addition to Aniela Mojzis, and will compete for the singles title May 20-25.
Such depth does not guarantee success at this level, however.
"The top seven teams all have that kind of depth," said Callen. "Julie (Rotondi) is tough at number three. She's won the last 17 matches at number three, some of those coming against top competition like Wake Forest and Duke. She's got to be one of the top number threes in the nation, but on this team you have to remember that all six players are very close in their playing ability."
That's exactly what the Sun Devils don't want to hear.
Another important part of the Heels' game is improved play in the doubles round. In addition to the first point, the team that wins two of three doubles matches has a mental advantage heading into singles play.
Callen partly credits doubles play for both early-season struggles and late season dominance.
"We were also working on doubles combinations early in the season trying to find good doubles pairs and we lost some doubles points," said Callen of a three-match losing streak in March, "and that affected us in the singles match. We came out stronger in singles than in doubles. Now the doubles teams are coming out with the same mentality."
The winner of UNC-Arizona State will face either Kentucky or host Stanford on Friday
While her seventh-ranked tennis team spent time daydreaming about the advanced rounds of the 2002 NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament, Callen was happy for any sleep she could get.
"I went to bed at 7:00 (Tuesday) night and slept all the way until 7:00 this morning," Callen said on Wednesday. "Then I took a nap this afternoon. I'm having some troubles with allergies and I've been trying to prepare myself for our match."
With the recent success of the women's tennis team it's clear that Callen's allergies don't stem from winning. If that was the case, the first year coach would have been incapacitated long ago as her team embarked on a magical ride to California.
After finishing the regular season on a 12-1 tear, the Tar Heels knocked off 47th-ranked Florida State, No. 8 Wake Forest and then fourth-ranked Duke to capture the ACC Tournament in April, Carolina's first in 21 years. Winning such a tough conference helped UNC reach a national ranking of sixth and earn the right to host the school's first NCAA Regional, where they blanked Loyola (Md.) and Furman at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
The Tar Heels are in unfamiliar territory, but they're not satisfied with just making the finals.
"I'm looking forward to another opportunity to watch the team play a tough opponent," said Callen. "Hopefully I'll have another opportunity, and then another after that."
Arizona State (15-7) will definitely be a tough opponent, but the Heels have beaten them before -- and on the Sun Devils' home court, no less.
In March the Heels took Tempe by storm, defeating Marquette and then edging host ASU 4-3. Carolina entered the matches with mixed results on the young season and left Arizona brimming with confidence.
"I think that match gave us the confidence that we could be at one of the top teams in the country," said Callen of the team's previous meeting with the Sun Devils. "That was a turning point for us for the rest of the season.
"Our singles play was strong all season and our doubles teams are playing with more confidence now. Overall, we're in a much better position now than the first time we played Arizona State, but they've improved as well."
One weapon the Heels have in their arsenal is a depth that qualifies them as a legitimate title contender. While some teams would love just to have the No. 34 ITA-ranked player on board, the Heels have her -- and she's playing number three.
Julie Rontondi, winner of 17 straight, has thrived at the three-spot this season with No. 14 Kate Pinchbeck and No. 36 Marlene Meija playing ahead of her. All three players made the All-ACC team, in addition to Aniela Mojzis, and will compete for the singles title May 20-25.
Such depth does not guarantee success at this level, however.
"The top seven teams all have that kind of depth," said Callen. "Julie (Rotondi) is tough at number three. She's won the last 17 matches at number three, some of those coming against top competition like Wake Forest and Duke. She's got to be one of the top number threes in the nation, but on this team you have to remember that all six players are very close in their playing ability."
That's exactly what the Sun Devils don't want to hear.
Another important part of the Heels' game is improved play in the doubles round. In addition to the first point, the team that wins two of three doubles matches has a mental advantage heading into singles play.
Callen partly credits doubles play for both early-season struggles and late season dominance.
"We were also working on doubles combinations early in the season trying to find good doubles pairs and we lost some doubles points," said Callen of a three-match losing streak in March, "and that affected us in the singles match. We came out stronger in singles than in doubles. Now the doubles teams are coming out with the same mentality."
The winner of UNC-Arizona State will face either Kentucky or host Stanford on Friday