Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, October 1
Fort Collins, CO
9:00 AM
Colorado State
vs
Jon Messick Invitational
Weekley Reaches Finals of Messick Invite
10/1/2022 8:23:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Delays limit day's play to just singles matches
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Everything about Sarah Weekley's story suggests she's a late bloomer.
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The global pandemic hit in what was supposed to be her freshman year, so she stayed home in New Zealand and took online classes like everybody else. She experienced the loss of her father before last season, so she didn't arrive until the spring season.
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She's never had fall tournaments to stack matches and gain experience and confidence, which is what she needed. This fall, she's taking advantage of her court time and it's producing really good results.
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She won a pair of singles matches during Friday's session of the Jon Messick Invitational at the CSU Tennis Complex, both by straight sets and in such convincing fashion she only dropped five games all day.
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Two weeks ago, she went 3-1 at the Bedford Cup and Sunday she'll play in the finals against New Mexico's Maud Vandeputte. Naturally, she's enjoying her success. She's also enjoying the why.
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"It's probably my serve and playing all of these matches has given me more confidence," she said. "With more matches under my belt, it's made me more confident. I feel more at home now, I guess. Last year I was sort of getting used to everything. This year, I'm feeling more at home. The team is good, and it's a good family environment."
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Colorado State coach Mai-Ly Tran has been anticipating what a fall season could mean for Weekley, who does possess a big serve. She showed glimpses of the player she could be, posting a 5-5 singles mark in the spring. Her biggest decision came against San Jose State, winning in three sets to clinch the conference-opening victory for the team.
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What Tran is seeing is what she expected with more match time.
Â
"She's gained a lot of confidence in her game. I was always excited to have her play in fall tournaments because it's a different format and dynamic than the dual season," she said. "She really just got thrown into things in the spring, but fall season is a chance to do well individually. She's such a great player, it's nice to see her gain some confidence and play her game.
Â
"It's getting experience under her belt and playing under pressure and knowing what she's capable of and just being confident in herself. She's an extremely talented player, and to know she can play with anyone is what she should be gaining from these tournaments."
Â
With the experience, Weekley is learning more about herself and her habits and how they can improve her play. She felt a bit overwhelmed by everything new she was experiencing last year, but it did teach her where to start to put her focus.
Â
The fall has given her the chance to put some of it in practice, which is still a work in progress.
Â
"It was confidence, routine and bending my legs at 6-foot-1," she said. "After the point, I need a routine to focus on instead of just looking around, waiting until the next point and having a routine before I serve so I don't rush into everything. I do box breathing and bounce three times before I serve. On the return, I'm bouncing on my toes."
Â
The Rams had one other semifinalist, with Ky Ecton dropping a three-set match to Denver's Louise Winkander, 6-2, 3-6, 10-3. Her match was one which was held up by the second stoppage of the day.
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The tournament ran into two weather roadblocks. The start was delayed by 2 hours as the courts dried from the rain overnight, then late in the day, another 90 minute delay, initially beginning with lightning in the area, took seven singles matches off the courts, coming back to restart play around 5:45 p.m., as the final few matches of the day finished under the lights. It led to nothing but singles play during the day.
Â
CSU's Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya had her consolation semi also affected, as she dropped a tight one in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5; Luana Avelar dropped a quarterfinal match to Denver's Andrea Beltran, 6-0, 6-4. Through it all, Tran felt her team handled the starts and stops of the day well.
Â
"I told them at the end of the day I was really impressed with how everyone just handled the delays and the rain and had good attitudes about it," she said. "There were some uncontrollables and those are things we'll need when we head onto the court. They had great attitudes and helped me when I had some hard moments."
Â
Sunday's start will be bumped up to 8:30 a.m., starting with semifinals of doubles on both sides of the two brackets, followed by those finals matches.
Â
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The global pandemic hit in what was supposed to be her freshman year, so she stayed home in New Zealand and took online classes like everybody else. She experienced the loss of her father before last season, so she didn't arrive until the spring season.
Â
She's never had fall tournaments to stack matches and gain experience and confidence, which is what she needed. This fall, she's taking advantage of her court time and it's producing really good results.
Â
She won a pair of singles matches during Friday's session of the Jon Messick Invitational at the CSU Tennis Complex, both by straight sets and in such convincing fashion she only dropped five games all day.
Â
Two weeks ago, she went 3-1 at the Bedford Cup and Sunday she'll play in the finals against New Mexico's Maud Vandeputte. Naturally, she's enjoying her success. She's also enjoying the why.
Â
"It's probably my serve and playing all of these matches has given me more confidence," she said. "With more matches under my belt, it's made me more confident. I feel more at home now, I guess. Last year I was sort of getting used to everything. This year, I'm feeling more at home. The team is good, and it's a good family environment."
Â
Colorado State coach Mai-Ly Tran has been anticipating what a fall season could mean for Weekley, who does possess a big serve. She showed glimpses of the player she could be, posting a 5-5 singles mark in the spring. Her biggest decision came against San Jose State, winning in three sets to clinch the conference-opening victory for the team.
Â
What Tran is seeing is what she expected with more match time.
Â
"She's gained a lot of confidence in her game. I was always excited to have her play in fall tournaments because it's a different format and dynamic than the dual season," she said. "She really just got thrown into things in the spring, but fall season is a chance to do well individually. She's such a great player, it's nice to see her gain some confidence and play her game.
Â
"It's getting experience under her belt and playing under pressure and knowing what she's capable of and just being confident in herself. She's an extremely talented player, and to know she can play with anyone is what she should be gaining from these tournaments."
Â
With the experience, Weekley is learning more about herself and her habits and how they can improve her play. She felt a bit overwhelmed by everything new she was experiencing last year, but it did teach her where to start to put her focus.
Â
The fall has given her the chance to put some of it in practice, which is still a work in progress.
Â
"It was confidence, routine and bending my legs at 6-foot-1," she said. "After the point, I need a routine to focus on instead of just looking around, waiting until the next point and having a routine before I serve so I don't rush into everything. I do box breathing and bounce three times before I serve. On the return, I'm bouncing on my toes."
Â
The Rams had one other semifinalist, with Ky Ecton dropping a three-set match to Denver's Louise Winkander, 6-2, 3-6, 10-3. Her match was one which was held up by the second stoppage of the day.
Â
The tournament ran into two weather roadblocks. The start was delayed by 2 hours as the courts dried from the rain overnight, then late in the day, another 90 minute delay, initially beginning with lightning in the area, took seven singles matches off the courts, coming back to restart play around 5:45 p.m., as the final few matches of the day finished under the lights. It led to nothing but singles play during the day.
Â
CSU's Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya had her consolation semi also affected, as she dropped a tight one in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5; Luana Avelar dropped a quarterfinal match to Denver's Andrea Beltran, 6-0, 6-4. Through it all, Tran felt her team handled the starts and stops of the day well.
Â
"I told them at the end of the day I was really impressed with how everyone just handled the delays and the rain and had good attitudes about it," she said. "There were some uncontrollables and those are things we'll need when we head onto the court. They had great attitudes and helped me when I had some hard moments."
Â
Sunday's start will be bumped up to 8:30 a.m., starting with semifinals of doubles on both sides of the two brackets, followed by those finals matches.
Â
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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