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.

My body aches...

Practice today was harder than usual...at least it was for me. Normally I don't leave the courts feeling like I just got hit by a truck, but that was the case today. For the average student-athlete, practices eventually become kind of like regularly scheduled workouts that you would do at a gym or a local track. Its not intentional. Even the most motivated, dedicated players fall into a rut and practice the same things, the same way, day in and day out. Practice becomes a part of your routine just like going to the gym, going to work, or doing your homework. You wouldn't do it if you weren't actually compelled to. Practices like the one I had today remind me of why I still play tennis. Strangely enough, the sensation of failure keeps me going. When my body can't handle anymore and I can't make another ball in the court, I know I've accomplished something.

My assistant coach let me know yesterday that I'll be participating in a doubles exhibition match on April 24th with our current number 1 men's player, Dean Loock. I don't have all the details yet, other than the date and the time, but I will certainly post when I find out more. Doubles is often a lot more fun for me than singles, and being as how its an exhibition, I'm thinking it will be a pretty good time. I'll leave you with a picture of me and my doubles partner, Hillary Collins, after the regional finals last year. That's all for now!