Tennis enjoys newly granted scholarships
For women’s tennis team, class of 2011 includes two scholarship playersPosted on February 28, 2008
After pouring 33 years into the JMU women’s tennis program, it only seems right that coach Maria Malerba should have top athletes to compete with.
Following the school’s scaling back of its athletic program, men’s and women’s tennis, among other teams, have begun an incremental funding process that allows them to have scholarship players.
Malerba has wasted no time utilizing her team’s newly awarded funding and brought in two scholarship athletes for the class of 2011.
Freshmen Kristin Nimitz and Alyssa Brandalik are the first newcomers on scholarship and have already proven themselves as the No. 2 and No. 5 competitors on the team.
“[Kristin’s] only about 5-foot-3 or 5-foot-4,” Malerba said in a phone interview. “What wins her matches is she doesn’t make a lot of unforced errors. She doesn’t make a lot of dumb mistakes.”
Playing ahead of Nimitz in the No. 1 role is sophomore Rebecca Erickson, who has also established herself as a formidable threat in the Colonial Athletic Association in just her second season. Malerba is especially excited to have Erickson playing ahead of the scholarship players and sees it as a tribute to the Rye, N.Y. native’s work ethic.
“Playing Division I tennis has really improved [Rebecca’s] game,” Malerba said. “If you ever want to watch someone, she’s the one because she has every shot in the book.”
Erickson is 2-3 in singles play this spring with wins over Jovanna Sangria of Hampton and Fiorella Valdivia of Norfolk State.
Nimitz is just 1-4, but the freshman, like Erickson, has two losses coming against CAA rivals Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion.
“I think we’re gonna do pretty well,” Nimitz said. “We’ve only played two CAA schools and they’re two of the top three and we were able to stay in it.”
The Dukes struggled against the Rams on Jan. 26, losing 5-0 and were easily handled 7-0 against the Monarchs.
Both opponents have fully funded teams and Malerba said all 10 conference opponents already had scholarship players.
“I think we’re gonna be right around fifth [this year],” Malerba said. “As we pick up more and more scholarships we’ll continue to move up in the rankings.”
JMU could receive a boost in its record with stronger doubles play in the weeks to come. No combination has been able to win more than once this spring, but sisters Barrett and Ida Donner may be able to use their familiarity to earn more team points.
The junior-freshman Donner tandem picked up a victory in their last outing against Norfolk State to rebound from losses to VCU and ODU. Madison as a team improved to 2-3 with a win against the Spartans, and next plays in the Orlando Invitational over spring break.
“It’s gonna be tough,” Erickson said. “Every team now has great players. We’re gonna have to fight for everything.”
