Women's Tennis 2022 Season Preview
UW Athletic Communications
1/12/2022
SEATTLE – The Husky women’s tennis team won’t shy away from chasing history. With a much deeper and more experienced team than took the court this time last year, Washington is looking for a return to the NCAA tournament and a push to surpass the Sweet 16 run from the 2019 squad.
The return to play in 2021 came with several challenges. Washington began the season missing two veteran singles starters due to Covid, as Head Coach Robin Stephenson made things work with a roster of just seven players including three true freshmen jumping right into dual matches. The Huskies still put together a 15-8 season and went 5-5 in Pac-12 play but just missed out on postseason play by likely one or two spots, as the team finished the year ranked No. 43.
The silver lining is all the experience that the three freshmen earned a year ago, and now the Huskies head into the 2022 dual season with a deep roster of eleven student-athletes, bolstered by the addition of four newcomers. And leading the way is still one of the best Huskies to ever do it, in fifth-year senior Vanessa Wong.
“Myself and the team we’re all just hungry to get going after last year, says Stephenson. “We had some unfortunate things that went against us, but we had a lot of people that got to play a ton of matches and got a lot of experience that I think is going to help us this year.
“Our depth this year is obviously a lot better than last year; we were just short on numbers. I think our depth and experience now is going to carry us, and we can’t wait to get going.”
The Huskies will get going on the road this Saturday, in Honolulu to take on the Rainbow Wahine. The Dawgs then open at home with matches against BYU and Eastern Washington on Jan. 22-23, but from there the Huskies play six in a row on the road.
“I think it will be good to build our toughness and get some gritty road wins hopefully,” Stephenson says. “We’re going to some new places and seeing some different teams, which will be great. I think we want to compete in different environments, and the schedule is pretty tough too. We want to be playing our best at the end of the season and I think these early matches will prepare us well for that.”
When people come and watch us this year they’re going to see a group of hard workers that are having fun and doing it together and playing for each other. Everybody here cares so much about the team and has so much respect for each other, and it makes my job so much fun because when you’ve got people that have that energy and desire and want to work like they do, it’s a blast to come to practice.Robin Stephenson
Washington already got a big win of another kind when the academic results from fall quarter were announced last week. Women’s tennis led all teams in the athletic department with a 3.81 grade point average and put eight players on the Dean’s List. It’s a testament to the work ethic of the individual players and the culture as a whole.
“It’s amazing,” says their coach. “I think they want to excel in everything that they do. It really goes to show how disciplined they are, how hard they work, how much they care. It’s the type of people we recruit, and then the culture within the team, everybody that comes in now is expected to do their best in everything that they do. They’re very focused on the court and with their tennis, and they have big goals for the team, but I love that they are so well-rounded and they’ve got a lot of passion for their academics and their future careers.”
What does Stephenson expect Husky fans to see when they follow the Dawgs on their 2022 journey?
“When people come and watch us this year they’re going to see a group of hard workers that are having fun and doing it together and playing for each other,” she says. “Everybody here cares so much about the team and has so much respect for each other, and it makes my job so much fun because when you’ve got people that have that energy and desire and want to work like they do, it’s a blast to come to practice.”
The 2022 Washington Huskies
Vanessa Wong | Senior | Toronto, Canada
Coach Stephenson on Wong: “She decided to come back for a fifth year because the program means so much to her. She wants to leave this place better than she found it, which she already has, and she’s going to continue to do that. She reached her hundredth career victory in the fall and could potentially be the all-time career wins leader in singles, and that’s a big goal for her. Becoming an All-American is a big goal for her. She does the right thing all the time, and she’s done that for four years. We’re grateful she decided to stay for her fifth. One of the reasons for that is we talk a lot about chasing history, and this program’s never made it past the Elite Eight, and her sophomore year we went to the Sweet 16 and did some really cool things that year, but there’s even more hunger to take it further, and she’s going to lead the group with that. Van knows what’s at stake and knows this is her last year and she wants to go out on top. The greatest thing about her is she’s the ultimate teammate, she’s not as concerned about her individual ranking or records, she’s more invested in the team’s success, and she would take that over individual stats any day."
Zoey Weil | Senior | Columbus, Ohio
Coach Stephenson on Weil: “Zoey’s very spirited and brings a lot to the team. She’s the ultimate teammate, which I feel like I can say about everyone on the team. No matter where we put Zoey we know what we’re going to get from her. She cares a lot about this program and gives her all every day. With her and Nika and Vanessa being a part of that team three years ago, they know what it takes to win at that level and to take it one step further, that group is going to lead the way with that."
Nika Zupancic | Senior | Otocec, Slovenia
Coach Stephenson on Zupancic: “Nika has come back on a mission. She’s playing the best tennis I’ve ever seen her play. She’s the fittest she’s ever been. She’s made a huge commitment for herself and this team to be the absolute best she can be, and it shows. Her work ethic is second to none, she’s always doing extra and pushing people to be better. She brings energy every day. Her freshman year she did unbelievably well and so did the team, and that season we lost to UCLA three times, and that just sticks with her. She wants to help the team get over that hump and chase history, and get some revenge on some teams. She’s got a lot of motivation going into the season, and I think that’s going to serve her really well."
Ashley Chang | Junior | Toronto, Canada
Coach Stephenson on Chang: “Ashley hasn’t been able to compete as much her first couple years, but she’s always working at getting better. We’ve never had such a big roster, with eleven players, and obviously six will be starting in singles and five will not, so we have a bigger bench but it’s a group where everyone is fighting hard for a spot. Ashley's been working hard and is always a great teammate."
Hikaru Sato | Junior | Tokyo, Japan (Transfer from Washington State)
Coach Stephenson on Sato: “Hikaru is just such a raw athlete, she strikes the ball so well, she’s very athletic, she can do a lot of things on the court, and it’s been really fun working with her this fall on her game and putting it all together and having a vision where she wants to go and seeing that progress from September to now. She’s improved so much. We’ve also been working a lot with her on her mental patterns on the court to stay present and compete at the highest level she can mentally and she’s made a lot of progress there. When we competed against her we always knew it was going to be a tough out. I feel like being able to coach her and see what she’s capable of, her ceiling is so high and we’re just scratching the surface of it now. I’m excited to see where she can go but she’s going to be playing at a really high level and we’re expecting some big things from her."
Tara Chilton | Sophomore | Reno, Nev.
Coach Stephenson on Chilton: “Tara got to play a lot of meaningful matches last year and I think that’s going to serve her really well. Last year during all of that time I just felt like we had a long term vision for everyone. Our Pac-12 season, competing in those matches, getting that experience as a freshman was huge. The sophomores all have great spirit on the court and it feels like they've been here for years."
Sarah-Maude Fortin | Sophomore | Montreal, Canada
Coach Stephenson on Fortin: “Obviously SMF had a really good freshman year and was playing a lot at two. Her second half of the season was very good. Her trajectory and her improvement from January to May was huge. It’s the same this fall, and I think she’s just going to continue to get better and better. With her experience and the success that she had, she almost feels like an upperclassman. She’s very poised when she plays, her work ethic is amazing, she’s very mature in the way she competes and practices, so she’s another leader on the court for sure."
Yolanda Lin | Sophomore | Sammamish, Wash.
Coach Stephenson on Lin: “Yolo was able to get a lot of experience last season and she'll definitely be better for that. As with Tara, we feel confident with either of them getting in and competing for us. I'm excited to see her game continue to develop this spring."
Astrid Olsen | Sophomore | Hagan, Norway (Transfer from Pepperdine)
Coach Stephenson on Olsen: “She had a ton of success in juniors and professionally in some tournaments. She transferred here because she wants to play and contribute, and with her game she can play high and do really well. She’s got a big game and can do a lot of things really well. She’s another raw athlete with a ton of upside and for different reasons didn’t get as much playing time the last couple years but I think as she gets matches under her belt and gains confidence and things start coming together for her, I think she can take off as well."
Kelly Leung | Freshman | Hong Kong, China
Coach Stephenson on Leung: “Kelly’s been amazing. She had a lot of success this fall and won a lot of matches. We got to see a lot of her under pressure in different situations and she rose to the occasion each time. Certain people are going to find a way, and she’s proven to that kind of person. Her consistency level with everything she does is one of her best traits. She shows up every day with a smile on her face and the same energy and passion for the game and the team and she works super hard."
Abby Mason | Freshman | Christchurch, New Zealand
Coach Stephenson on Mason: “Abby didn’t have a lot of opportunities to compete and train with the lockdown in New Zealand so that’s why we brought her in early. She was actually looking at coming in the fall but we thought it would be good to get her here and get the experience and start training in this environment. She has a lot of room to develop and I think her upside is huge. She has a big serve, takes the ball early and I think has some big weapons. We’ll be working with her on her development and she’s all in, and I think she’ll have an impact on and off the court."