BY ANDREW HALE, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
After a week off, the men’s and women’s tennis teams will be back in action this weekend.
The men will head to West Point, New York to participate in the Army Invitational from Sept. 30 – Oct. 2. As for the women, four members of the team will travel to Princeton, New Jersey to compete at the ITA Regionals on Sept. 30 – Oct. 2.
For the men, this will be their second competition of the year and the ninth time they’ve competed at the Army Invitational since the 2013-14 season. The Bonnies are looking to bounce back after being tested at the Navy Invitational two weeks ago.
“Some of the freshmen got a taste of what it’s like in college and what they need to do to play a bit better,” St. Bonaventure head coach Michael Bates said. “Hopefully we continue to compete hard which will prepare us for the following weekend when the men go to regionals.”
With only two men’s doubles teams tallying wins at the Navy Invitational, these preseason tournaments allow for the coaching staff to see which combinations work best together.
“These tournaments give us the chance to see what kind of doubles lineups we’re going to have and who can play with who,” Bates said. “These tournaments give us a good indication of what everyone needs to work on, as a team, and what we need to focus on for each individual specifically.”
On the women’s side of St. Bonaventure tennis, sophomore Alexandra Jansson, senior Amelia Haley, junior Anastasia Gubanova and freshman Isabella Venter were all invited to compete at the ITA Regionals this weekend.
The ITA Regionals, which features more than 8,000 of the best collegiate tennis players in the country, has twelve regions consisting of teams across the country with the hopes of qualifying for the ITA National Fall Championships.
Players from both the men’s and women’s Bonnies tennis teams have been invited to this tournament 10 times since the 2009-10 season. This weekend the women will be headed into the tournament with some experience as Gubanova, Haley and Jansson all competed at the ITA Regionals last season.
Jansson, who made it to the round of 32 last year, and the Bonnies won’t overlook this tournament as it has proved to provide difficult competition over the years.
“It’s always a tough tournament,” said Bates. “You get players from every school who are competing in this, so it’s nice that we get to take four players. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it and I think they are too. This is a good opportunity for them to play against some of the top competition and to see where we stack up.”
At the University at Buffalo Invitational, the Bonnies went 1-1, beating Niagara but falling to Buffalo. While the Bonnies showed what they can do against tough competition, Bates said there is still work to be done.
“We’ve had some good results, not great, not horrible, but right in the middle in terms of our play,” Bates said. “We’re not where we want to be, but we are heading in the right direction.”
halea22@bonaventure.edu
