SCAD Tennis to Practice at Forsyth Park

Thats right! The SCAD Bees will now be holding practice from 11-1 on weekdays at the Forsyth tennis courts. If you happen to be in the area, feel free to stop by and say hi--most of us are pretty nice and the rest of us probably won't mind the distraction. Just kidding. I promise we'll be nice.

I wish I could say the same for everone else using the Forsyth courts. I don't want to generalize, but local Savannah tennis players are mean. They are pushy and bossy and mean. They use a timer to make sure you don't exceed the maximum 1 hour time limit, they shoot dirty looks at you when one of your balls accidentally rolls onto their court, and (get ready for this one) they call you names when you refuse to leave your court before your time is up.

Chill out, Savannah-- Its just tennis. Its a sad day when a stressed, sleep-deprived college student needs to tell you to adjust your attitude. Take the hint and please stop yelling at me when I accidentally hit balls onto your court. I didn't mean to. Let's move on.

Thats all for now. Don't forget to come out and say hi!

Deadweight

That's how my legs felt at practice today. Seriously. It was hot out and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who was less than enthusiastic at practice today. It was also a little lonely out on the courts today now that the guys have finished their season. But the show must go on. Speaking of which, the countdown to nationals has begun. Only three weeks left before the SCAD Bee's head to Mobile, Alabama. Well, hopefully-- apparently, SCAD isn't a confirmed competitor in the Nationals Draw. At number 11 in the NAIA rankings, we are in "good position" to qualify for nationals, but not 100% qualified. The updated rankings set to come out later next week will determine the fate of our quest to win nationals this year. Sadly, not much else to report this early in the week. So I'll leave you with this truly outstanding representation of me during today's practice. Enjoy.

Player Spotlight: Stephanie Gula

This week's spotlight is on junior SCAD Bee, Stephanie Gula. Stephanie is an architecture major from Warren, Ohio who enjoys playing with her dog, Ben, and tearing up the practice courts with her teammates.


Playing the number 5 singles position for the SCAD Bees, Stephanie has tallied wins against Webber, Southeastern, St. Thomas University, and most recently, against Northwood during the Regional Tournament. At the number 3 doubles position, Stephanie has had to overcome multiple changes in partners but has neverthless proven herself to be a key player in the Bees' doubles lineup.

At only 5'3", what she lacks in physical size she makes up for in sheer fight and determination and rarely has an opposing player displayed more courage and spunk on a tennis court. Stephanie's teammates can always count on her to give her best when the going gets tough.

Stephanie is also an accomplished soccer player and a die-hard Steelers fan. When she's not smacking balls on the court you can usually find her at the Architecture building or catching some rays at the beach.

Regional Wrap-Up

The Sun Conference Regional tournament concluded on Sunday with both the men's and women's teams from Embry-Riddle capturing the Conference Title and a spot at the NAIA National Tournament in Mobile, Alabama. On behalf of the SCAD tennis team, congratulations to them. They certainly deserved the win after a weekend of outstanding play.

Sadly, our men's team did not earn a spot at the National Tournament this year which means their season ends here. For those of you whom didn't get the chance to watch them play this season, don't worry-- they'll be back in the Fall, rested and ready to take on 2011.

With the spring quarter nearly nearing its halfway point, the women's team will begin its preparations for nationals, set to begin on May 18th. That's only a couple short weeks away, but with a little luck and a lot of work, we could easily have a better showing than we just had at Regionals. I know a senior (Romina) who would really like to go out with a bang, and she's off to a great start with her stunning win against Northwood on Saturday.

Ok, so don't tell anyone I told you, but a certain two people on the SCAD tennis team have recently confirmed their relationship on Facebook (cute, right??) Congrats Annie and Andy H.!!

SCAD Bees lose to Northwood 5-3

Judging by the title of this post, you may be expecting another sad report from court-side at the Regional Tournament today. Not so fast. Though the Bee's lost to Northwood earlier this afternoon, we fought our hearts out and likely earned ourselves a slot at the National tournament later this quarter. Down our number 1 player and certainly lacking the same confidence we had going into the season, the Bees struggled on all courts to maintain the upper hand against Northwood.

Trailing 1-2 after the doubles matches were completed, SCAD went into singles competition hoping to give the Northwood Seahawkes the fight of their lives-- and fight we did.
When the last ball was struck, SCAD had won 2 singles matches and one doubles match. Romina Mrochen, former player of the week and current number 1 player for the Bee's had achieved an incredible victory, defeating the current Sun Conference player of the year, Mikaela Seger.



Ok, so we lost. Big deal. We've beaten Northwood before and we'll beat them again-- eventually. In the mean time, take a look at some of the amazing pictures (I took them myself) from today's matches.


Alright fine, I didn't take that one...

Player Spotlight: Kaan Yaylali

Kaan Yaylali, a sophomore from Istanbul, Turkey is one of the SCAD tennis team's most valuable players. Equally dedicated to his education, Kaan is an industrial design major who hopes to graduate in the Spring of 2012. When he's not on the practice court, you can probably find him at the Industrial Design building slaving away over his latest design.

At 6 feet tall, Kaan has won 4 of his last 5 singles matches giving him one of the best singles records on his team with only 2 losses for the season against Embry-Riddle University and Georgia College and State respectively. Teaming with doubles partner Dean Loock, Kaan has also had a remarkable doubles season, winning 5 matches at the number 1 spot.

In his spare time, Kaan watches episodes from his favorite TV shows, The Office and Family Guy and listens to music by Coldplay, The Beatles, Metallica, and Bob Dylan.

Georgia College and State

It was a rather somber day in Milledgeville on Sunday with the Bees losing to both the men's and women's teams of Georgia College and State. The men especially had a tough loss, struggling to win a single point. The finals scores, sadly enough were: Men GCSU 9, Bees 0 and Women GCSU 7, Bees 2.
Here's a rundown of the individual match scores:

Men's Singles:

1. Jerome Leborgne (GCSU-M) def. Yusuke Kusuda (SCAD) 6-4, 4-6, 11-9

2. Johan Wadstein (GCSU-M) def. Dean Loock (SCAD) 6-2, 6-2

3. Max Beliankou (GCSU-M) def. Kaan Yaylali (SCAD) 6-2, 6-4

4. Giovane Nucci (GCSU-M) def. Romeo Juhasz (SCAD) 7-5, 6-3

5. No player (GCSU-M) def. No player (SCAD), by default

6. No player (GCSU-M) def. No player (SCAD), by default

Men's Doubles

1. Joao Casagrande/Jerome Leborgne (GCSU-M) def. Dean Loock/Kaan Yaylali (SCAD) 8-6

2. Max Beliankou/Giovane Nucci (GCSU-M) def. Yusuke Kusuda/Romeo Juhasz (SCAD) 8-1

3. No player/No player (GCSU-M) def. No player/No player (SCAD), by default Women's Singles: 1. Diane Danna (GCSU-W) def. Romina Mrochen (SCAD) 6-1, 6-0 2. Kayla Barksdale (GCSU-W) def. Courtney Collins (SCAD) 6-1, 6-0 3. Bertille Lion (GCSU-W) def. Nisha Michau (SCAD) 6-0, 6-2 4. Charlotte Debrey (SCAD) def. Michelle Lingner (GCSU-W) 6-0, 6-1 5. Linda Mosa (GCSU-W) def. Stephanie Gula (SCAD) 6-2, 7-6 6. Adriana Acuna (GCSU-W) def. Annie Chastain (SCAD) 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 Women's Doubles: 1. Diane Danna/Bertille Lion (GCSU-W) def. Courtney Collins/Romina Mrochen (SCAD) 9-7 2. Charlotte Debrey/Nisha Michau (SCAD) def. Kayla Barksdale/Michelle Lingner (GCSU-W) 8-6 3. Adriana Acuna/Linda Mosa (GCSU-W) def. Annie Chastain/Stephanie Gula (SCAD) 9-8 To be fair, GCSU is a division II team, which means this match won't count against our final NAIA regional or national ranking. My final match analysis? We really need a little more confidence. Hard to come by when half your team is sidelined due to injuries, but nevertheless, we're going to need it if we hope to be competitive at this years Regional Tournament. Stay tuned for a player spotlight on SCAD sophomore Caan Yaylali.

Lazy Saturday

Reading over some of my previous posts, I realized that I don't write a whole lot about our men's team. I suppose that makes sense given that I'm not on the men's team, but I would hate for them to feel left out. Though I'm convinced they could care less, we'll just pretend for the sake of this blog that they're immensely interested in what I have to say about them. So in the spirit of gender equality, this week's player spotlight will on a player from the men's side. Contain your excitement for now because I haven't decided whom it will be yet. I'll make my decision after the match against Georgia College and State tomorrow afternoon.

Number 11

The women's team dropped three spots this week from number 8 to number 11 in the NAIA national rankings. I was a little disappointed on behalf of the team, but we're still in pretty good position to go to nationals so I suppose I can't complain. Who even cares about rankings, anyway? Not me. Clearly, not caring about rankings is exactly why people play competitive sports in the first place.

There hasn't been a whole lot to report as of late. I've missed a couple days of practice this week, and I'll be absent again tomorrow morning. That gives me a little time to rest up but not a whole lot to write about. I hope some of you enjoyed the player spotlight I did last week. I would like to do one every week until the quarter ends so at least you can recognize us if you see us out and about around Savannah. Maybe then you'll have some incentive to come watch our matches if you at least know us by face. Here's to wishful thinking.

I know this blog often gets a little heavy on the text and a little light on the imagery. So here are some images from Spring Break 2010:

And you thought we only played tennis...

And only because my mother recently brought it to my attention that there were no pictures of me on my own blog, there I am on the right. Hi mom.

Tied for 1st

It was at least 95 degrees on the tennis courts today. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the first day of Summer is not April 5th. Bent over my racket, sweat dripping off my nose and practically sizzling as it hit the court; today was a brutal day at practice. I'm going to give myself the benefit of the doubt here and assume that I was out of breath and red in the face because of all the pollen that's been in the air lately. Me? Out of shape? Never.

Coach Keenan gave us some pretty interesting news today. I may not have mentioned this earlier, but both the girls' and the guy's team suffered a loss recently to the Embry-Riddle team of Daytona Beach. I don't think any of us we're expecting this team to be as fired up as they were, but they beat us pretty handily. Fortunately for us in terms of rankings, Embry-Riddle just lost to the Northwood team from West Palm Beach. We beat Northwood not too long ago which puts the SCAD women in a three-way tie for 1st place in the Sun Conference Regional rankings.

That makes us really happy. It doesn't guarantee us a place at Nationals, but it does give us a little more confidence going into the Regional Tournament next weekend. That was a reminder for any of you who were considering coming out to watch us play. We wouldn't want you to forget or anything.

One more week of practice before Georgia College and State. Expect an update from Milledgeville on Sunday!

Spotlight: Romina Mrochen

Each week until the end of the quarter I'd like to write a little profile of each player so that we can all get to know each other a little bit. This week's spotlight is on our only senior on the women's team: Romina Mrochen

Hailing from Lomos Anahuac, Mexico, Romina is a fashion major working diligently on the final collection of her college career. She hopes to present her designs in the SCAD fashion show later this quarter. With an infectious laugh and one of the best forehands on the team, Romina will likely compete at the number 1 spot in the line-up as the Bees close out the season against Georgia College and State this weekend followed by the Regional and National Championships.

Romina has already had a stellar season, dropping only 1 game at the number 2 spot against Campbellsville University on March 19th. With a leg injury thats bothered her most of the season so far, Romina has pushed through the pain to help the SCAD Bees win 9 consecutive matches in a row. Her doubles record is just as impressive. With the help of her partner Courtney Collins, Romina has played the majority of the season at the number 1 spot, winning tough matches against Webber, St. Thomas, and Southeastern University.

The SCAD Bee's are now supporting Romina in her efforts to overcome a hip injury. With any luck, she'll be good as new by the time she plays her first match against Georgia College and State on Sunday.