Diary of Day: The Atlantic Sun Tennis Tournament
4/26/2012 11:21:00 AM | Women's Tennis
As University of North Florida women's tennis team prepares for the 2012 NCAA Tournament, senior Danielle Day will blog about the team's preparation for their second NCAA Tournament in three years over the next couple of weeks on www.UNFOspreys.com.
Hi, Osprey Fans! My name is Danielle Day and I am on UNF's women's tennis team. We are just coming off an Atlantic Sun Championship and will be competing at the NCAA Tournament in two weeks. I hope to give you a little bit of insight to UNF's tennis programs.
The women's team just finished the regular season 9-0 in conference play, and we have an overall 16-4 record. The season didn't quite start the way we wanted it to. We began the season with four losses, but to highly ranked teams like Miami and Florida State. The girls and I were a little discouraged at that point, but Coach Audra Cohen told us to hang in there and keep fighting because she knew things were going to change in a good way for us. Once conference play in March started, we turned it around and have won our last 12 matches in order to reach the NCAA Tournament!
Last weekend was important to both the men's and women's teams because it was the Atlantic Sun Tournament. For the women, we went into the tournament pretty confident after winning the regular season, but we also knew it was going to be a battle. The men had a great regular season as well. They finished conference play with an 8-1 record and an overall record of 19-6. The biggest achievement was when the team beat two nationally ranked opponents in back-to-back days. After that week, the men were ranked 50 in the nation, which is the highest ranking that the UNF tennis program has ever had in Division I. That was a huge accomplishment for the UNF tennis program because it shows that our team is a top 50 team and we can compete with the best schools in the nation.
With this first blog, I'll share what happened before and after the matches at the conference tournament.
Both UNF's men's and women's tennis programs faced Stetson in the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Tournament hosted by ETSU in Johnson City, Tenn, on Saturday, Apr. 21.
Prior to Saturday's Women's Semifinals:
With the bad weather here in Johnson City, both the men's semifinal matches and the women's semifinals are playing at the same time, but at different tournament sites after another match finishes. The men started at 8 a.m., and we play at 10:30 a.m. Going into today, the girls and I feel nervous, which is good for us, because we know that this match means a lot. We are feeling a little bit tight, but after a while, we will play our best. Coach Audra told us to be fearless when we are on the court and to take the opportunities when we have them.
It's a little added pressure for Aline Berkenbrock and me because we are seniors this year. If we were to lose, it may be the last match we ever play of our college career, which is intimidating. We have been in situations like this before so we know how to handle them.
An update on the men -- they won the doubles point against Stetson! We hope to hear good news from the men's match soon!
In addition to the doubles point, UNF's men's team won three of the four completed singles matches in order to defeat Stetson 4-1. Meanwhile, on the women's side, Danielle clinched the match-winning point for the Ospreys, who had a 4-2 win against Stetson.
After Saturday's Semifinals:
We just finished about 10 minutes ago and we won! It was an amazing match that lasted for 5 hours. We feel very good about this win, because the match was so close. It ended up coming down to Marina Cunningham and me. I had to win my match or Marina had to win hers; it was very stressful. Fortunately, I won in a tight third set 7-6 (1) and my teammates ran to me. They all hugged me once it was over. Some of the girls were so happy that they cried! It was one of the best feelings I have ever had in my tennis career. It was truly a terrific moment and everyone on the team will remember that feeling.
The men also had a great win over Stetson, beating the Hatters 4-1. The men were very happy to get revenge after losing to the Stetson team two years in a row in the semifinals. But not this year! The men fought very hard to get their well-deserved spot in the finals.
Both teams are going to face ETSU on their home courts tomorrow. We all know it's going to be a big fight tomorrow, but we are Ospreys and ready to win.
Before Sunday's Finals:
Getting ready for the finals is a very important process. We have to make sure we rest before, eat right, and get focused. It was difficult to get ready this morning because bad weather was coming into Johnson City. The men's match was changed to ETSU's indoor tennis facility, and shortly after, we found that out the women's match was changed also. This didn't affect the girls and me much because we all like to play indoors.
We arrived to the courts early to watch the men's match. It was very close. The guys lost the doubles point, but they were coming back in the singles matches. However, after a couple of hours went by, the guys lost a heartbreaking match. It was upsetting to everyone, because we knew how hard the guys worked and how close they were to winning the tournament. But for the girls and me, we have to move on though, and get focused for our match.
The women's match lasted a marathon 5 hours and 30 minutes. UNF won the doubles point and the first two singles matches before ETSU claimed the second two to make it a 3-2 match in favor of the Ospreys with No. 5 and No. 6 singles left to play. Simona Weymar got the match-winning point as UNF defeated ETSU 4-2.
After Sunday's Finals:
Wow! This was an incredible experience and a great win to bring home to the Osprey nest! We are the 2012 Atlantic Sun Conference Champions and we all feel very proud to be an UNF Osprey!
The match lasted 5 hours and 30 minutes and it was another hard fought battle. We were leading 3-0 and then there was a change of momentum. ETSU started fighting back and came back to make it 3-2. We only needed one more point and there were two matches left. Simona Weymar at No. 5 singles and Marina Cunningham at No. 6 singles had all the pressure.
Both matches were extremely close and all of us were nervous. After cheering for five-and-a-half hours, Simona finally had match point. The point went back and forth between the players until Simona had an overhead shot to win the match! She slammed it for a winner and we all ran and jumped on her. Most of us were crying tears of happiness, because of all the hard work we put into this year. It was a moment that we will all remember forever and that we accomplished together.
A couple of days later…
Winning conference was such a great experience; it is something that I will remember forever. We are all very excited and looking forward to the first round of NCAAs. We know that we are going to play a strong team, and maybe a team we already lost to earlier this year. But, as a team, we know that we are playing better and we have confidence going into the National Tournament. We find out who we play May 1 and the tournament starts May 12. The team is motivated to do well and fight as hard as we can!
UNF's women's tennis team after winning the 2012 Atlantic Sun Championship
Danielle Day was named the Atlantic Sun Tournament MVP
Hi, Osprey Fans! My name is Danielle Day and I am on UNF's women's tennis team. We are just coming off an Atlantic Sun Championship and will be competing at the NCAA Tournament in two weeks. I hope to give you a little bit of insight to UNF's tennis programs.
The women's team just finished the regular season 9-0 in conference play, and we have an overall 16-4 record. The season didn't quite start the way we wanted it to. We began the season with four losses, but to highly ranked teams like Miami and Florida State. The girls and I were a little discouraged at that point, but Coach Audra Cohen told us to hang in there and keep fighting because she knew things were going to change in a good way for us. Once conference play in March started, we turned it around and have won our last 12 matches in order to reach the NCAA Tournament!
Last weekend was important to both the men's and women's teams because it was the Atlantic Sun Tournament. For the women, we went into the tournament pretty confident after winning the regular season, but we also knew it was going to be a battle. The men had a great regular season as well. They finished conference play with an 8-1 record and an overall record of 19-6. The biggest achievement was when the team beat two nationally ranked opponents in back-to-back days. After that week, the men were ranked 50 in the nation, which is the highest ranking that the UNF tennis program has ever had in Division I. That was a huge accomplishment for the UNF tennis program because it shows that our team is a top 50 team and we can compete with the best schools in the nation.
With this first blog, I'll share what happened before and after the matches at the conference tournament.
Both UNF's men's and women's tennis programs faced Stetson in the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Tournament hosted by ETSU in Johnson City, Tenn, on Saturday, Apr. 21.
Prior to Saturday's Women's Semifinals:
With the bad weather here in Johnson City, both the men's semifinal matches and the women's semifinals are playing at the same time, but at different tournament sites after another match finishes. The men started at 8 a.m., and we play at 10:30 a.m. Going into today, the girls and I feel nervous, which is good for us, because we know that this match means a lot. We are feeling a little bit tight, but after a while, we will play our best. Coach Audra told us to be fearless when we are on the court and to take the opportunities when we have them.
It's a little added pressure for Aline Berkenbrock and me because we are seniors this year. If we were to lose, it may be the last match we ever play of our college career, which is intimidating. We have been in situations like this before so we know how to handle them.
An update on the men -- they won the doubles point against Stetson! We hope to hear good news from the men's match soon!
In addition to the doubles point, UNF's men's team won three of the four completed singles matches in order to defeat Stetson 4-1. Meanwhile, on the women's side, Danielle clinched the match-winning point for the Ospreys, who had a 4-2 win against Stetson.
After Saturday's Semifinals:
We just finished about 10 minutes ago and we won! It was an amazing match that lasted for 5 hours. We feel very good about this win, because the match was so close. It ended up coming down to Marina Cunningham and me. I had to win my match or Marina had to win hers; it was very stressful. Fortunately, I won in a tight third set 7-6 (1) and my teammates ran to me. They all hugged me once it was over. Some of the girls were so happy that they cried! It was one of the best feelings I have ever had in my tennis career. It was truly a terrific moment and everyone on the team will remember that feeling.
The men also had a great win over Stetson, beating the Hatters 4-1. The men were very happy to get revenge after losing to the Stetson team two years in a row in the semifinals. But not this year! The men fought very hard to get their well-deserved spot in the finals.
Both teams are going to face ETSU on their home courts tomorrow. We all know it's going to be a big fight tomorrow, but we are Ospreys and ready to win.
Before Sunday's Finals:
Getting ready for the finals is a very important process. We have to make sure we rest before, eat right, and get focused. It was difficult to get ready this morning because bad weather was coming into Johnson City. The men's match was changed to ETSU's indoor tennis facility, and shortly after, we found that out the women's match was changed also. This didn't affect the girls and me much because we all like to play indoors.
We arrived to the courts early to watch the men's match. It was very close. The guys lost the doubles point, but they were coming back in the singles matches. However, after a couple of hours went by, the guys lost a heartbreaking match. It was upsetting to everyone, because we knew how hard the guys worked and how close they were to winning the tournament. But for the girls and me, we have to move on though, and get focused for our match.
The women's match lasted a marathon 5 hours and 30 minutes. UNF won the doubles point and the first two singles matches before ETSU claimed the second two to make it a 3-2 match in favor of the Ospreys with No. 5 and No. 6 singles left to play. Simona Weymar got the match-winning point as UNF defeated ETSU 4-2.
After Sunday's Finals:
Wow! This was an incredible experience and a great win to bring home to the Osprey nest! We are the 2012 Atlantic Sun Conference Champions and we all feel very proud to be an UNF Osprey!
The match lasted 5 hours and 30 minutes and it was another hard fought battle. We were leading 3-0 and then there was a change of momentum. ETSU started fighting back and came back to make it 3-2. We only needed one more point and there were two matches left. Simona Weymar at No. 5 singles and Marina Cunningham at No. 6 singles had all the pressure.
Both matches were extremely close and all of us were nervous. After cheering for five-and-a-half hours, Simona finally had match point. The point went back and forth between the players until Simona had an overhead shot to win the match! She slammed it for a winner and we all ran and jumped on her. Most of us were crying tears of happiness, because of all the hard work we put into this year. It was a moment that we will all remember forever and that we accomplished together.
A couple of days later…
Winning conference was such a great experience; it is something that I will remember forever. We are all very excited and looking forward to the first round of NCAAs. We know that we are going to play a strong team, and maybe a team we already lost to earlier this year. But, as a team, we know that we are playing better and we have confidence going into the National Tournament. We find out who we play May 1 and the tournament starts May 12. The team is motivated to do well and fight as hard as we can!
Monday, April 26
Saturday, July 01
Monday, April 24
Friday, April 21
