WISE – Head Coach Danny Rowland and the women's tennis team return to action this weekend with the team's fall home opener against Brevard College Saturday at noon. The Cavaliers found much success this past spring, including advancing to the Mountain East Conference semifinals along with three players garnering all-conference accolades.
Women's tennis returns the bulk of its roster, adding just one freshman to the team this season. Among the returners are sophomore Katya Akimenko and senior captain Aya Melhem who were both named to the all-conference second team last season. Coach Rowland is also aided this campaign by sophomore Liza Akimenko who was named to the all-conference first team and freshman of the year at the end of last season.
Katya Akimenko finished the 2018-19 regular season with a 10-5 overall doubles record, 4-2 in conference. She completed the campaign winning her last four matches and posting a 12-6 regular season mark. Melhem secured a 9-9 regular season record her junior year, winning seven of her last 10 matches.
As the only senior on the team, Melhem is ready to step up as a leader in her final season with the Cavs. "It's my job to keep them motivated and make sure everyone is giving 100% effort," said Melhem. While Melhem knows the challenges of moving into a new conference, she's optimistic about the progress the team will make. "…when we played them last year, after every single SAC match we played, we got better," remarked Melhem. "I expect us to grow as a team going into the SAC. I think it's going to be challenging but I think it's going to push us to be a better team."
Liza Akimenko had a standout freshman campaign, capturing the conference freshman of the year award as well as being named to the all-conference first team and earning VaSID all-state first team honors. "Last year was really good, I gained a lot of good experience," said Akimenko. She concluded the regular season with a 14-3 overall mark, 7-1 in conference play, at No. 1 singles. She added one more win in the quarterfinals of last year's conference tournament to help the Cavs advance to the semifinals.
"We knew we had three top-notch players," said Coach Rowland. "Liza being freshman of the year was an incredible accomplishment." Although the Cavs played with a young roster last season, Coach Rowland was happy with what the team was able to accomplish. "[I am] proud of how they played and stepped up and helped the other freshmen along," remarked Coach Rowland.
The Cavaliers began their fall season last weekend at the King Hidden Duals Invitational in Bristol, Tenn. Coach Rowland hopes the experience the team gained last year will carry over into this year.
"I think they're more accustomed to how we do things now – how we practice, how we travel," Coach Rowland commented. "Practices will be smoother because they know what to practice – so our practices will be higher level."
UVa-Wise will play eight matches this fall with a mix of Division II and Division III competition. The Cavs will play six of their eight fall matches at the Jim and Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex.
"We're playing a lot of new teams because the South Atlantic Conference was our non-conference schedule and now it's our conference schedule," Coach Rowland noted. "We're playing some Division II and Division III schools … we have some new teams that I'm not totally familiar with. I think we can come through this fall with a winning record, if not an undefeated record, if we play well, and get our confidence heading into the spring."
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