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The Virginia women’s tennis team received a bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament on Tuesday. The Cavaliers will travel to the Durham, N.C. regional to meet VCU in the first round. Virginiasports.com caught up with head coach Mark Guilbeau after the selection show to preview the tournament.
Question: The team is back in the tournament this season after just missing out last year. What are your thoughts on returning to the NCAA Tournament?
Guilbeau: It feels like that is where we need to be each year. I am tired of talking about last season, to be honest, and I know that the team feels the same way. Never to downplay the difficulty and honor of reaching the tournament, but at the University of Virginia, we should be making the tournament every year. We certainly need to keep building our program to that level. We are excited to be in it. We are happy for the players that they get to play in it and our two seniors (Amanda Rales and Maggie Yahner) get to end their careers in the NCAA Tournament, like it should be.
Question: You open the tournament by traveling to Duke to play VCU. The last time you were in the tournament in 2007, you beat VCU in the first round in Clemson. The year before, you went to Duke and won a first round match against Alabama. Does it give you some confidence to get a draw where you have some familiarity in opponent and location?
Guilbeau: I think that these type of draws are going to be pretty common. We are often going to face teams from Virginia, from the area, and from our conference. The goal for us in the future is to become the team like Duke or Clemson, who is the No. 1 seed. That is what our men’s team has done. Maybe not the No. 1 seed nationally, which is a tremendous accomplishment for them, but the No. 1 seed in a regional and get to host the first two rounds. Right now, we have to put every bit of attention on VCU because that is going to be as tough as any match we have played all season.
Question: You are a No. 2 seed in the regional this season and that means that you are the favorite on paper in the first round. How do you adjust to being the favorite in a NCAA Tournament match, a position you haven’t been in for several years?
Guilbeau: I think that can be a challenge sometimes. Obviously we have had some success in the underdog role. Sometimes when you are favored by ranking there is some pressure to live up to that ranking. I look at it that you are in the position by earning it with your play during the year, so if you play to your level you should be OK. We have had a lot of ups and downs this year, but I think our best tennis can be enough to have success in this regional.
Question: How does playing such a tough schedule in the ACC prepare you for the NCAA Tournament?
Guilbeau: It prepares you two ways. You have tough matches that help you improve throughout the season. It also prepares you from a wins and losses standpoint. You will win some matches that will be incredible wins and you will lose some matches that will be hard. Sometimes you can play your best tennis and still end up on short end of the score. That happens a lot in the ACC because we have so many great teams in this league. Hopefully we can put that whole experience behind us and learn from it and start fresh here in the postseason.
Question: You have a lot of young players on this team that will be playing in their first NCAA Tournament. How do you prepare them for their first tournament?
Guilbeau: The main thing you tell them is to just get ready to play. It is all about preparation. It is a little tricky with exams coming up, but that is something most schools are dealing with this time of the year. The main thing, without over-doing it, is to be prepared. We have some changes in our lineup. We have some new doubles teams. There are some specific things and skills we are working on. Those things are exciting. You don’t really approach it differently, because we have played such a challenging schedule, so this isn’t that different. This is really a reward for the team and they still have a lot they can gain and take out of this chance.
Question: Does the three weeks between the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament help you prepare better for the NCAA Tournament?
Guilbeau: You can look at the three or four biggest strategies or tactical areas that you want to work on and fine-tune them. You may have a moment to step away and think about things that you might not have had a chance to consider during the regular season. I see our kids doing that in practice. Now the challenge becomes putting that to use in the match and I think this team can do that. At the same time they are doing that, they need to pass all their classes and a couple of them get to graduate. Overall, its an exciting time.