Attitude Makes all the Difference

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FORT COLLINS – Rams support Rams.

Playing its first home tournament of the season, Colorado State's women's tennis team not only supported each other, but they were also able to see the support from other CSU Rams. "Go Rams," "come on Rams" and "let's go Rams" could be consistently heard throughout the day.

The Jon Messick Invitational is the only home tournament during the fall and the team was able to use this chance to see they have people outside of their teammates supporting them. The tournament will conclude with the finals on Sunday at 9 a.m.

"It's definitely nicer to play on your own courts because it's your practice courts, you feel confident on those, and you're used to them," Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya said. "And having the community come here, you want to do better."

With this being Zhadzinskaya's last Jon Messick, she is trying to enjoy the matches rather than over stressing, which she says has improved her game. For her doubles matches, she was paired with Paisha Douglas, a freshman, winning one of their two matches Saturday.

Playing with Douglas and watching another freshman, Mariya Dobreva, play in this tournament, Zhadzinskaya has been able to observe how the newest additions to the team have been playing and adapting. She said they are great players and that she is proud of them.

"We are still getting used to each other in the sense of team dynamics, but they are very receptive, and they are learning a lot having this transition from juniors to this team environment," Zhadzinskaya said.

Dobreva described the transition to CSU as a "roller coaster."
She has had to adjust to her new team including the different dynamics of her doubles pairings. It takes time to build a strong connection with teammates, but regardless of how close they are, they make sure to support each other regardless.

"For me, affiliated or not, I'm still going to be there to support (my teammates)," Dobreva said. "I feel like there is a lot of adjustments, especially when you're injured and you have to stop playing tennis; some of the things, I've found them back through playing for a month and a half here."

On top of adjusting to the team, she has had to adjust to the change in altitude and to tennis as a whole. Last year, she had a lot of injuries which meant she was taking a lot of breaks from tennis, so coming into this year, she has had to try and find her way of playing again.

The last singles match of the day for CSU to finish was Dobreva's match which she won 6-3, 6-4. All of her teammates could be seen watching alongside other CSU students. At one point, they even started a call and response with one person saying, "let's go Colorado" to which others responded with "let's go state."

"I liked it, honestly, because my friend came to support me and it was fun to see how many people come and support us and watch us and are behind our backs," Dobreva said.

The team finished the day winning six of 12 matches and remained one of the loudest throughout the day showing their support of each other. Douglas, who is unaffiliated with CSU for this tournament, will be playing on Sunday for a title in the singles round.

Going into Sunday's matches Dobreva is looking to keep a positive attitude and have more patience with herself. She wants to keep being positive about her matches, even when there are negatives or things she wants to improve.

"I won't play my best tennis all of the time, but if my attitude is there and if my dedication is there, I feel like I can do pretty good," Dobreva said.

Zhadzinskaya has a similar approach going into the final day by trying to enjoy her matches more rather than being too stressed about them. Enjoying the games helps her have better games by not getting stuck or frustrated and moving from point to point with more confidence.

"I played my A game today and it worked through the whole match," Zhadzinskaya said, "I was pretty confident and aggressive, so that's kind of my mindset for tomorrow's final match."

Whether they are new to the team or in their final season, the Rams are making sure to support their teammates loudly while keeping positive and bringing their best to their matches.

Doubles Results
Flight 1
Serina Abriola/Eugenia Ceinos, Wyo, d. Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya/Paisha Douglas, UN, 6-4
Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya/Paisha Douglas, UN, d. Niyati Kukreti/Ana Sabikova, USU, 6-1
Flight 2
Ruby Young/Elena Trencheva, Wyo, d. Mariya Dobreva/Victoria Erechtchenko, UN, 7-6 (6)
Olivia Halvorsen/Natalie Paterova, USU, d. Mariya Dobreva/Victoria Erechtchenko, UN, 7-6 (5)
Flight 3
Logan Voeks/Sarah Weekley, UN, d. Jessica Hill/Yangpingan Li, USU, 6-1
Anna Medvyedyeva/Selena Bird, USD, d. Logan Voeks/Sarah Weekley, UN, 7-5
Singles
Flight A
Mariya Dobreva, CSU, d. Eugenia Ceinos, Wyo, 6-3, 6-4
Marjorie Souza, Oregon, d. Sarah Weekley, UN, 6-2, 6-2
Flight B
Candela Aparisi, Oregon, d. Victoria Erechtchenko, UN, 6-4, 6-2
Flight D
Paisha Douglas, UN, d. Suzanie Pretorius, ISU, 6-4, 6-2
Flight E
Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya, UN, d. Cielo Tapia-Cruz, USU, 6-3, 6-0
Flight F
Logan Voeks, CSU, d. Adel Ismagulova, Wyo, 6-4, 6-4

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- STALWART -

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Players Mentioned

Mariya Dobreva

Paisha Douglas

Victoria Erechtchenko

Logan Voeks

Sarah Weekley

Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya