Lennon Takes a Step Toward Getting in the Groove

Calendar

Show:/

Apr 10

10:00 AM

Women's Tennis

at Grand Canyon

Apr 12

10:30 AM Outdoors/12:30 PM Indoors

Women's Tennis

vs San Diego State

Apr 17

4:00 PM

Women's Tennis

vs Wyoming

Apr 22

TBA

Women's Tennis

vs Mountain West Championships

DENVER, Colo. – Even for experienced players, the fall portion of the tennis season is about building through match play. Heading into Friday's first day of the Colorado Cup, Zara Lennon hadn't been able to do so.

The graduate transfer from Long Beach State missed Colorado State's first tennis tournament of the season after rolling an ankle. She didn't play at the Jon Messick Invitational because she was going to play double at the ITA All-American tournament. The first singles matches she played were at ITA Mountain Regionals, where she did get in four.

That was three weeks ago, so the promise of getting more singles matches in this weekend at the Denver Tennis Park was enticing.

"This weekend is more to gain back the confidence of match play and having my feet moving and all of that," Lennon said. "It sounds very general, but it definitely feels good when you feel like you're in control on the court."

She very much was when the Rams opened with Air Force, cruising her way to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Alexis Odom. That came after she and partner Sarah Weekley opened with a 6-1 victory in doubles over Andrea Le and Courtney Swift.

As excited as Lennon was to play, CSU head coach Mai-Ly Tran was equally curious to get her on the court and play more singles matches with just four under her belt so far.

The past three weeks the team has worked a lot on team chemistry and getting to know each other, but there's also been so additional individual work for players. There was a plan for each one, and Lennon had been working a lot on her foot movement with assistant Taylor Hollander.

"That's what we've been looking forward to is seeing her play. With starting the season out with an injury, it was tough for her," Tran said. "It was great to see her back in form. I think she needed a couple of matches to get back into it, and she looked great today. She felt in control and confident.

"That's all fall is about, is really just getting matches under your belt, going through a lot of situations and gaining some confidence from there to carry into the spring."

Air Force has a limited roster due to injuries, so only two doubles and four singles matches were played, with Colorado State winning five.

They swept through singles, with Sarah Weekley posting a 6-2, 6-3 win, while Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya won in straight sets, topping Andrea Le 6-3, 6-1. The only match to go the distance belonged to freshman Luana Avelar, who prevailed over Courtney Swift 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

The entire weekend has been a series of firsts for Avelar, things she will have to get used to as a tennis player in Colorado coming from her upbringing in Brazil and her prep career in Florida.

"It did feel really good, but I was really nervous because this was my first indoor match. I've never played indoors before," she said. "First it was snowing, then it was indoors, so it was a big change, but it did feel really good being on the court. It was just a challenge for me to trust my game."

She'd never seen snow before, and while she was too cold to attempt a snow angel, she did make her first mini snowman. As for playing inside, she believed what she had to get over was more mental than physical.

Adding to the sensation was another first – being the last one on the court. Because she was, the two teams lined the court to cheer out the final match, which at first made her nervous. She got over that, too, and eventually fed off it.

"First, to me, it was so hard to breathe. I don't know, I feel like there was less air even though there were vents, and the ball goes really fast," she said. "I had to be more ready for everything. It was that whole fake it until you make it. I was trying to believe I could do it until I did. It's going to take a while until I'm more comfortable with it."

Getting comfortable was a big first step for Lennon.

The first step happened during the break, getting a couple of singles matches in during practice. She didn't feel great, but it did help her feel more positive entering Friday. The extra work also helped her find a rhythm, which she said is important for her style of game.

"I feel like my variation was much better. I'm not a boom-boom type of player," Lennon said. "I like to throw some heavy spin, I like to slice, and I felt like I did that way more than in the previous matches I've played this season. It's touch, and more the variation that I'm hitting good spin and coming in and getting to the net to vary it, not just sit on the baseline and win from there. Today, I felt like I made the ball do what I wanted it to."

It was definitely a good first step toward feeling she's back in the groove, with more matches coming the next two days. The Rams will face host Denver outside on Saturday, then take on Colorado on Sunday morning inside.

Doubles
Alexis Odom/Sydney Finch, AFA, d. Ky Ecton/Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya, 6-3
Zara Lennon/Sarah Weekley, d. Andrea Le/Courtney Swift, 6-1
Singles
Sarah Weekley, Sydney Fitch 6-2, 6-3
Zara Lennon, d. Alexis Odom, AFA, 6-2, 6-2
Luana Avelar – Courtney Swift 6-3, 4-6, 6-23
Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya d. Andrea Le, AFA, 6-3, 6-1

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results