Still Looking Out for No. 1 at SDSU : College tennis: 17th-ranked women’s team has a number of young, talented players, but a leader has yet to emerge.
SAN DIEGO — After a semester of practices and numerous challenge matches for the San Diego State women’s tennis team, something remains to be seen--a No. 1 player.
Having lost four players to graduation, the team is made up of a senior, a junior and the rest freshmen and sophomores. And although there is abundant talent, it’s relatively spread out, with no dominating figure.
“I might as well be asking a Ouija board or flipping coins because its very difficult for me to come up with a No. 1 player,” Coach Carol Plunkett said.
The Aztecs have depth, but a “better advantage,” Plunkett said, would be to “have depth and a No. 1 player.” And with the season opener against Nevada Las Vegas only two days away, the playing order is still in question.
“We’ve been having challenge matches but there’s no clear pattern to who is No. 1, who is No. 2 or 3 and 4,” Plunkett said. “The first part of the season, we will rotate the kids, and pretty soon they will start to fit into a pattern.”
The most seasoned player is junior Dorey Brandt. Ranked 29th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Assn. preseason poll, Brandt has compiled a 25-22 singles record as an Aztec. She will team with Nicole Storto, a freshman from Scottsdale, Ariz., in doubles.
Although Michelle Apra, the Aztecs’ lone senior, had limited playing time last season, she is now expected to make a major contribution. Apra and sophomore Paige Patridge, a La Jolla High graduate, will team up for doubles.
The other two doubles teams will be sophomores Sue Hawke (Patrick Henry) and Tannya Johnson and sophomore Eva Olivarez (Manila) and freshman Paige Hammond of Tulsa, Okla.
“I’m really pleased with our freshmen and sophomores,” Plunkett said. “I’m very excited about them because they’re very good players--loaded with talent. They’re enthusiastic, have good work ethics, are good students and excellent team players.”
The Aztecs have consistently been ranked in the top 20 nationally since Plunkett took over 14 years ago. Until three years ago, they made frequent appearances in the top 10. SDSU’s highest finish was fourth in 1984.
Last year, the Aztecs finished 16th with a 17-10 record and advanced to the NCAA tournament, where they lost to No. 1 Stanford in the second round.
Plunkett says one thing that helps the Aztecs maintain a top 20 ranking is their schedule. It doesn’t help their won-lost record, but by the time they reach the national tournament, they have played most of the competition. This year’s schedule includes No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Florida and No. 5 Southern California.
When Plunkett took over at SDSU, she decided to concentrate on recruiting players who had potential and were willing to work rather than paying a lot of attention to “names.” That was more because of necessity than choice, but Plunkett had success with it, and it’s a method she continues to employ.
“When I first came here, and we were looking to build the team, it was difficult to recruit the highly ranked players to a team that was just kind of just starting out,” Plunkett said. “So we started recruiting kids with a lot of talent who just hadn’t developed. It’s such a pleasure as a coach to have that kind of kid to work with, and I personally enjoy doing that. It’s kind of become something we’re identified with.”
Because Plunkett competes with the likes of Stanford, UCLA, Pepperdine, USC and Cal, and because California high school players are in demand all over the country, Plunkett tends to recruit outside the state. She wishes she could get more county athletes, but they tend to like to go away to school, she said.
“Schools are crying for California players,” Plunkett said. “They might not have a high ranking, but they’re from California where tennis can be played year round.”
She also tries to have at least two foreign athletes on the team, which she said helps the Aztecs compete with schools that rely heavily on foreigners.
“A lot of the teams have foreign players, and it’s because the kids come in with different skills,” Plunkett said. “They come in with slices, touch shots that our kids don’t have, and all of a sudden we have to go out and play against this kid.
“If our kid has never seen this type of game before, we’re at a disadvantage. So when we have that kind of a player on our team, it gives our players someone to practice against who has a variety of skills so they will know what to do. Plus when they see how effective it is, it encourages them to learn those additional shots as well.”
There is also a risk, Plunkett said. The coach must often rely on word-of-mouth and international rankings and does not always have the opportunity to see the player during the recruiting process.
Besides Olivarez, from the Philippines, SDSU has Claire Bateman, a sophomore from Essex, England. Bateman played as a freshman but will red-shirt this year after extensive shoulder surgery. Anne Moeller, a recruit from Denmark who played for the Aztecs from 1984-87, is in her third year as Plunkett’s assistant coach.
