The Longwood women’s tennis team is the closest example of the dictionary's definition of a young team from experience.
This season, the Lancers have zero upperclassmen, relying on a roster consisting of two sophomores and six freshmen. For second-year head coach Maria Lopez, the transition's stumbles are clear.
“I think it’s been pretty challenging for our team when the majority of the players are coming in as freshmen. The way that you play as a junior coming into college is very different than the experience you will have competing at the collegiate level,” Lopez said.
She added, “We are somehow showing some signs of maturity in some positions, but we are struggling to really understand what the environment needs to accomplish more."
Sophomores Jamie Breunig and Marija Venta are the players on the roster with the most experience and look to use it for the team's benefit.
Breunig said, “We’re trying to show them the lessons we learned last year before they have to experience it themselves, and were just using all of our knowledge to help them out."
Venta said the pair learned from last year's seniors, Paloma Altorre, Anna Pelak and Mason Thomas.
"They gave us a lot of knowledge, so we are trying to do the same with our freshmen, but of course we don’t have as much knowledge as they (seniors) did,” Venta said. “We’re doing the best with what we know."
The team, however, has faith in its coach that she will lead them in the right direction.
Venta said Lopez relates to the student-athletes off the court "as people," and shares her tennis knowledge on the court. "(Lopez) gives us a lot of chances to become better,” she said.
Breunig said, “She (Lopez) really puts her whole heart into this team, and she makes us her priority and goes out of her way to do extra things for us. Whenever we need help or extra time we can just go to her office, or she is always out on the court if we need extra time."
Lopez said she has grown in her time here at Longwood, transitioning from an assistant to head coach mentality.
“This year, I am lucky enough to have Rodney (Duncan) help me because in my first year I was by myself," she said. "It’s definitely challenged me to make some tougher decisions on an everyday basis than an assistant may not be exposed to."
“Last year, I had a more mature, older group and some of those tougher decisions I had to make were not shown as much, and this year they have been highlighted a little more, and it’s definitely made me wiser and stronger with having to come up with solutions, and certain things we need to work on as a team, and I hope they can see that as players,” Lopez said.
The Lancers currently sit at a 5-7 record overall with a 0-6 record in the Big South conference. With the home stretch before the Big South Tournament approaching, the team isn’t focused solely on winning, looking to build consistency and "keep growing," said the head coach.
“We talk about how we need to trust the process and not really focus on the outcome of the match,” Lopez said. “We’ve spent a lot of time over the past few days getting back to the basics and understanding what we need to do in order to get results."
The team will take to the road for its next two matches against Hampton on March 30 and Maryland Eastern Shore on March 31 before ending the season with five straight home matches.
Venta said, “The two most important things for the upcoming matches are: just doing what we know because we already know a lot of things and just following through with what coach tells us to do, and we also need to be more confident because we are lacking that a little, so that everyone believes in their game, and perform the way they need to."
