Katie Ruckert's serving it up!: March 8
Hello, everyone! This is Katie Ruckert, a junior on the Texas women's tennis team. I am very excited about having the opportunity to write a journal which will keep you up-to-date on what's happening with the team, both on the court and off. I'll also fill you in on our matches and our travels throughout the 2005 season. Check back frequently to see what we've been up to! Hello Longhorn Fans! I know it's been a while since I have last filled you in on what's been going on throughout season, so I have a lot of updating to do. Last weekend (Feb. 26-27), we traveled to Indiana and Illinois to play No. 19 Notre Dame on Saturday and No. 4 Northwestern on Sunday. To say the least, it was a lot colder in Indiana than it was in Austin, and it made all of us appreciate the warm weather even more. We started the weekend with a 4-3 win over Notre Dame in a hard-fought match. They competed very well, particularly in the doubles, but we were able to win four of the six singles matches to notch the victory. Everyone played very aggressively and I think it was good that Notre Dame pushed us to raise our games. After the match, we got in our Suburbans (not a bus this time) and drove to Chicago to play Northwestern. They are a very talented team with a lot of depth in their lineup. We ended up losing the match, 5-2, with only Courtney Zauft and Ristine Olson winning their respective matches. This match was a good opportunity for us to gauge how one of the top teams in the country competes, and we all walked away from it knowing that we can compete with them at all positions. We just have to believe in ourselves. I have to add that my mom flew out to Indiana from Virginia to watch us play these matches. It was awesome to see her and I was really happy that she had the opportunity to watch us play some tough opponents. After our road trip, we had a two-day break and then were supposed to play No. 2 Florida at home on Wednesday (March 2). Unfortunately, the match ended up being cancelled due to inclement weather. That brings us to this past weekend when we played No. 30 Wake Forest. As everyone knows, it rained on Sunday (March 6), so we drove to San Antonio to play the match at Thousand Oaks Racquet Club. [For all the meteorologists out there, if you are interested in forecasting rain, all you need to do is get a copy of the UT men's and women's tennis schedules and you will see that whenever we have a home match it rains. Go figure!] At any rate, we shrugged off the bad weather and got ready for our match against the Demon Deacons. We started by winning the doubles point and our number two doubles team (Petra Dizdar and Mia Marovic) came back from being down 6-2 to win the match, 9-7. In singles, we could only play on three courts because the roof over the fourth court was leaking water. As a result, one through three singles went on first followed by four through six singles. Kendra Strohm and I both dropped our first sets, but were both able to win the second and third sets decisively. Petra, unfortunately, lost her singles match in a tough three-set battle with a cagey South African player. Mia, Courtney and Ristine all won their singles matches and the team came out on top, 6-1. It was a long day in San Antonio, but it was nice because both Kendra's and Courtney's parents were there cheering us on during the match. I was really proud of the fight that all of my teammates showed this weekend. Now, we are getting ready for our home match this Friday, March 11 against No. 5 Duke at 5:30 p.m. I look forward to seeing all of you in the stands on Friday. And, good luck to the men who take on No. 2 Virginia on Tuesday! Hook ‘Em!
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