In defense of the crown

At this time last year, UTRGV women’s tennis was preparing for the WAC conference tournament. The tennis team returned to Edinburg as conference champions, the first athletic program to win a team championship in the Western Athletic Conference since joining in 2013.

Since that win, UTRGV volleyball has also added a conference title.

On the tennis team, there was a lot of turnover from the championship squad. Four of six women on the roster didn’t return. Last season’s coach, Stephanie Wooten-Quijada, left UTRGV in the summer.

Now several months into the new-look women’s tennis team, it’s time to put all of the work to the test. Tennis will travel to Las Cruces, N.M., to attempt a repeat championship.

“I feel like the biggest thing for them is they just have to be relaxed going into the tournament,” first-year Head Coach Sonia Hahn said. “They are very aware that they were champions last year, but it’s just a matter of focusing on the here and now and just having fun in the tournament.”

The team will play shorthanded after freshman Amanda Guardia left the team. With only five active players, they automatically forfeit one doubles match and one singles match.

Newcomer and sophomore transfer Marine Darzyan has turned her season around since first joining the orange and gray. The native of Volgograd, Russia, had lost seven of her first eight doubles matches this season.

On Feb. 18, Coach Hahn made the move to pair Darzyan with sophomore Dominique Ibarra. Since the pair linked up, it’s been an impressive 10 consecutive wins in doubles. They beat duos from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Lamar and Texas State universities, as well as all of the WAC matches.

“I think we have good communication with each other,” Darzyan said of her partner. “We understand each other well. We are kind of like matching, maybe, our personalities as well. It’s important in doubles to have that connection with the person you’re playing with. And I think me and Dominique have that connection and it helps us.”

“We did not bad in the pre-matches before the conference [tournament],” Darzyan said. “I think the WAC is really competitive. All schools are good, all teams are good, they’re well prepared. I think we have pretty good chances.”

Coach Hahn had spent the previous 19 years competing in the Southeastern Conference, taking her team to plenty of conference tournaments, as well as a period of 17 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

“The way our conference is, everyone is so evenly matched,” Hahn said. “To me, I think on a given day, any team can beat anyone. To us, it’s just a matter of being mentally tough and being focused. It really is who can have a full team being consistently focused.”

She’ll count on all of her team, but especially the few that have experience from last year’s run.

Ibarra serves as one of two who carried over from last year’s championship team. The sophomore from Barcelona, Spain, has a big role, playing the No. 1 doubles seed and usually the No. 3 singles match.

Ibarra’s conference singles record this year is 5-1. She’s only lost once, to University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Mariam Kurasbediani, while defeating women from Chicago State, Seattle, Grand Canyon and New Mexico State universities.

“When I’m playing I try to be as positive as I can,” Ibarra said. “The environment doesn’t feel as good as we want because we’re just five players. That just shows us we are more tough than before, because no one can rely on anyone. Everyone has to get the job done, work hard, do extra.”

The tournament will span over the course of three days with the championship round taking place Sunday.