Season Preview: Women's Tennis
January 14, 2019 | Women's Tennis
As the spring season approaches, the Washington women's tennis team will build on the many strong points of the fall year. As head coach Robin Stephenson is in her fifth year at the helm of the program, there is a lot to look forward to in the upcoming season. The Huskies possess a balance of veteran leadership as well as newcomers that have already made a strong impact on the team.
About the Team
The Dawgs are led by senior Stacey Fung who as a junior was named an ITA All-American. Fung held a 27-5 singles record and finished ranked No. 20 in the nation by the end of her junior year. Fung has already cracked the Husky record books as her 77 career singles victories are the seventh most all-time in program history. Senior Kenadi Hance is the other senior on the squad, and she enters the dual match season with 60 career singles victories. Hance went 10-3 in singles play as well as 12-1 in doubles action in fall season play.
Sophomore Vanessa Wong returns after an impressive freshman season in which she was named to the Pac-12 Second Team with a 28-9 singles record. Junior Kat Kopcalic cracked the ITA singles rankings for the first time in her career at No. 90 after a strong fall season in which she went 11-2 in singles action.
The Dawgs have two transfers on the team in junior Natsuho Arakawa and junior Abbey Watanabe. Arakawa showed consistency in the fall, going 8-2 in singles play while reaching the Round of 32 at the ITA Northwest Regionals, as well as holding a 7-2 record in doubles action. Watanabe held a 4-6 record in singles play during the fall.
The Huskies saw five newcomers get action on the court in the fall with a sixth set to add in the spring campaign in freshman Zoey Weil.
Three Husky freshman saw a lot of action in the fall as they adjusted to the college game. Nika Zupancic played strong in both singles and doubles play as she went 9-3 on her own and 12-3 in doubles. Zupancic and Fung formed a strong doubles duo that reached the semifinals of ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
Delara Zamani played in all four fall events, posting an 8-6 record in singles and 8-3 in doubles play. Sedona Gallagher appeared in two events, both with winning results. She went 5-2 in singles and 5-1 in doubles, while winning all seven matches at the Portland-Seattle Battle. Weil joins the team at mid-season as one of the top incoming players in her class.
Looking Forward
The Huskies will begin spring season play in Hawaii, beginning Jan. 17 facing Hawaii in a dual match, as well as participating in the Hawaii Invitational the next two days. The Dawgs will then host five dual matches in a 10-day span against Portland, Eastern Washington, Seattle, Idaho and Portland State.
Next, UW will host the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the Nordstrom Tennis Center from Feb. 8-11. Sixteen of the top Division I women's tennis teams will compete for an indoor national championship. The Oracle ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship is in its 32nd year of existence. Fifteen teams will qualify for the event by winning their respective 2019 ITA Kick-Off Weekend four-team regional, while Washington receives an automatic bid for serving as the host site. The teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament over a four-day span to crown a national indoor champion.
The Huskies will next host Gonzaga on Feb. 19 before traveling to California to face UC Santa Barbara and San Jose State. UW will wrap up non-conference play by hosting Kansas on March 1.
Next up is conference action in the always competitive Pac-12 in which six teams were ranked inside the top-50 at the end of last season. The Dawgs begin play on the road at Colorado and Utah before returning home for three matches against Oregon, Arizona and Arizona State. UW then travels to northern California to face Cal and Stanford. The Huskies final two home matches will take place April 12 and 13 against USC and UCLA. To close out the regular season, UW heads to Pullman to face Washington State on April 20. In late April, the Pac-12 Championships will once again be hosted in Ojai, Calif. to determine the conference champion.
Check back at GoHuskies.com for more updates on the Husky women's tennis team, and follow the Huskies on Twitter @UW_WTennis, on Instagram @uw_wtennis and on Facebook at Washington Husky Women's Tennis.
About the Team
The Dawgs are led by senior Stacey Fung who as a junior was named an ITA All-American. Fung held a 27-5 singles record and finished ranked No. 20 in the nation by the end of her junior year. Fung has already cracked the Husky record books as her 77 career singles victories are the seventh most all-time in program history. Senior Kenadi Hance is the other senior on the squad, and she enters the dual match season with 60 career singles victories. Hance went 10-3 in singles play as well as 12-1 in doubles action in fall season play.
Sophomore Vanessa Wong returns after an impressive freshman season in which she was named to the Pac-12 Second Team with a 28-9 singles record. Junior Kat Kopcalic cracked the ITA singles rankings for the first time in her career at No. 90 after a strong fall season in which she went 11-2 in singles action.
The Dawgs have two transfers on the team in junior Natsuho Arakawa and junior Abbey Watanabe. Arakawa showed consistency in the fall, going 8-2 in singles play while reaching the Round of 32 at the ITA Northwest Regionals, as well as holding a 7-2 record in doubles action. Watanabe held a 4-6 record in singles play during the fall.
The Huskies saw five newcomers get action on the court in the fall with a sixth set to add in the spring campaign in freshman Zoey Weil.
Three Husky freshman saw a lot of action in the fall as they adjusted to the college game. Nika Zupancic played strong in both singles and doubles play as she went 9-3 on her own and 12-3 in doubles. Zupancic and Fung formed a strong doubles duo that reached the semifinals of ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
Delara Zamani played in all four fall events, posting an 8-6 record in singles and 8-3 in doubles play. Sedona Gallagher appeared in two events, both with winning results. She went 5-2 in singles and 5-1 in doubles, while winning all seven matches at the Portland-Seattle Battle. Weil joins the team at mid-season as one of the top incoming players in her class.
Looking Forward
The Huskies will begin spring season play in Hawaii, beginning Jan. 17 facing Hawaii in a dual match, as well as participating in the Hawaii Invitational the next two days. The Dawgs will then host five dual matches in a 10-day span against Portland, Eastern Washington, Seattle, Idaho and Portland State.
Next, UW will host the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the Nordstrom Tennis Center from Feb. 8-11. Sixteen of the top Division I women's tennis teams will compete for an indoor national championship. The Oracle ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship is in its 32nd year of existence. Fifteen teams will qualify for the event by winning their respective 2019 ITA Kick-Off Weekend four-team regional, while Washington receives an automatic bid for serving as the host site. The teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament over a four-day span to crown a national indoor champion.
The Huskies will next host Gonzaga on Feb. 19 before traveling to California to face UC Santa Barbara and San Jose State. UW will wrap up non-conference play by hosting Kansas on March 1.
Next up is conference action in the always competitive Pac-12 in which six teams were ranked inside the top-50 at the end of last season. The Dawgs begin play on the road at Colorado and Utah before returning home for three matches against Oregon, Arizona and Arizona State. UW then travels to northern California to face Cal and Stanford. The Huskies final two home matches will take place April 12 and 13 against USC and UCLA. To close out the regular season, UW heads to Pullman to face Washington State on April 20. In late April, the Pac-12 Championships will once again be hosted in Ojai, Calif. to determine the conference champion.
Check back at GoHuskies.com for more updates on the Husky women's tennis team, and follow the Huskies on Twitter @UW_WTennis, on Instagram @uw_wtennis and on Facebook at Washington Husky Women's Tennis.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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