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Jan. 8, 2004
In sports, a team often takes the personality of the individuals on it. Although each player may have his own unique style, the common elements from each person mesh to form a culture, an identity for the team. Over the past two seasons, the Virginia men’s tennis team has been characterized by hard work and vast improvement. Those elements have made the program a star rising towards the top of collegiate tennis.
Therefore, it is not surprising to find one of the great stories of individual improvement on a team that is currently going through similar success as a whole. In one season, Stephen Rozek has gone from bouncing in and out of the Cavalier singles lineup to a top ten ranking in the ITA Mideast Region Rankings.
“I think my improvement has just been the result of hard work,” states Rozek. “I spent the summer in Charlottesville and got out on the courts every day. I played a lot of matches over the summer and the fall season. The more matches I won, the more my confidence grew.”
Over the past few months, Rozek has been playing at a higher level. He has beaten professional players and nationally ranked collegiate players. As the spring season begins, Rozek will be one of the key players on a Cavalier team full of young stars.”Stephen has worked tremendously hard over the past season and a half,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “We couldn’t be more pleased with his development as a player. He has made adjustments to his game and is reaping the benefits of them. I look forward to him continuing to make a major impact on our program.”
Last season, Rozek came to Virginia as part of one of the most highly touted recruiting classes in the nation. He was one of four Cavalier first-years to win at least 20 singles matches. However, he playing in only two-thirds of Virginia’s dual matches and when he was in the lineup, he primarily played at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions. After the season, Rozek dedicated himself to taking his game to the next level.
“I made tennis a major focus,” he admits. “I put tons of hours into working on my game. I played as many matches as I could. Then I started to beat better and better players and my confidence grew. I said to myself, ‘This is the level I should play at all the time.'”
“I expect that what Stephen has accomplished thus far is only an indicator of greaters things to come,” adds Virginia assistant coach Tony Bresky. “It’s extremely gratifying for us as coaches and for Stephen to see that all of his hard work is paying off. It is also a great example for the rest of the team.”
In addition to working on his tennis game, he worked just as hard on conditioning. That work was another factor in his success during the fall season, as evidenced by his perfect 5-0 record in three-set matches this fall.
“When the fall season started, instead of spending time trying to get back into shape, I was able to spend that time working on my game,” explains Rozek. “Then when we started to play tournaments, not only was I better technical player, but I found I was often in better physical shape than my opponent.”
Just as Rozek has improved over the past season, so has the Cavalier program. Rozek is one of ten returning lettermen from last season’s squad that won 20 dual matches for the first time in nearly two decades. He feels the team is ready to take the next step towards being one of the elite teams in the nation.
“We are definitely heading in the right direction,” says Rozek. “We have a lot of talent on this team. I think last season we just didn’t have the experience necessary to be successful for the entire five month spring season. We lost focus at the end and we learned from that. We will pace ourselves this year. We know we can compete with not only anyone in the ACC, but anyone in the nation. I think it is realistic for our team to reach the NCAA Championships in Tulsa this season.”
It is only a matter of time before the Cavalier program is annually reaching the NCAA Championships. Each season, the experience and talent levels increase. Building the tradition of championship tennis at Virginia is something Rozek and his teammates are taking very seriously.
“We are in a great situation to be part of building a program,” he says. “We are building a legacy here. It takes a lot of work to build a championship program and we are dedicated to doing it. In the future, when Virginia is perennially a power, I will be proud that I was part of the group that started that tradition.”
Just as he has goals for his team, Rozek has goals for himself.
“Personally, I would really like to get ranked,” he admits. “To know that out of the thousands of collegiate players, that you are one of the top 125, that would be a great confidence builder.”
Over the next few years, as experience and confidence grow, both Stephen Rozek and the Cavaliers will continue to have similar characteristics. Both team and individual will put in the hard work to climb in the rankings. It is something that Cavalier supporters can look forward to.