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Sports
Miami women’s tennis coach says he has solid squad
No. 72 RedHawks are young team that Joffe says will only get better.
By Pete Conrad,
Staff Writer
Updated 8:00 AM Thursday, May 7, 2009
OXFORD — On paper it appears that Miami University’s first venture into the NCAA women’s tennis tournament will last about as long as it takes a shark to gobble any small fish that comes too close.
The shark, in this case, being the Northwestern Wildcats, the team that has spent almost the entire season atop the national rankings and which boasts the NCAA’s No. 1 player in Maria Mosolova, of Moscow, Russia.
Howard Joffe, Miami’s second-year head coach and former professional player from South Africa, has a slightly different view of things.
“Northwestern is a very fine team,” Joffe said, “but if I put myself in the shoes of their coaches, I don’t know that there would be a worse team to play in the first round than us.”
The Wildcats are stocked with talent and are on a roll, having won 17 straight matches.
But so are the RedHawks, who have won 12 in a row and whose roster includes an impressive array of both local and international talent.
Such as 18-year-old Monica Gorny, the Mid-American Conference freshman of the year from South Africa who is 14-2 as Miami’s No. 1 singles player. Gorny has been ranked among the world’s best in her age group and has played at the junior level at Wimbledon and the French and U.S. opens.
“Monica has been a complete pleasure,” Joffe said. “She was 17 years old when she came in January. Her tennis resume speaks for itself, and the fact that she has performed so well speaks for her maturity and her teammates.”
One of those teammates is sophomore Anastasia Dracheva, of Russia, who has won 13 consecutive matches at No. 2 singles.
Another player who crossed an ocean to play in Oxford is Riekie Honiball, a freshman from Namibia. She competes at No. 6 singles.
Other starters in the Miami lineup are junior Brintney Larson, originally from Buffalo, N.Y., who owns five national doubles championships in junior tennis, along with freshman Stephanie Danesis, of Akron, at No 4 singles, and sophomore Megan Martzolf, of Indianapolis, at No. 5 singles.
Danesis, who attended Revere High School is one of four RedHawks from Ohio. The others are sophomore Cara Wild, of Dayton (Oakwood High), freshman Laura Grace Mezher, of Cincinnati (St. Ursula Academy) and sophomore Sydnee Bridger, of Columbus (Upper Arlington High).
Joffe was asked about Miami’s national ranking of No. 72. “I suppose it’s in the eye of the beholder,” he said.
“We definitely feel like, regardless of what’s happened in the last two weeks, which is what got us there, we’re definitely better as a team than we’re given credit for,” he said.
Miami swept through the MAC Championships, beating its three opponents without losing a singles or doubles match.
Joffe also pointed out that a couple of Miami’s nonconference losses early in the season were the tennis equivalent of basketball “buzzer-beaters — very close matches” to top-30 teams Indiana and Kentucky.
“We certainly are stronger than our ranking would indicate,” the Miami coach said.
“The only thing that makes us unpredictable, it’s not necessarily our tennis experience, but different kids coming to college from different parts of the globe, getting used to college, getting used to studies,” Joffe said. “We’re inexperienced. But we’re going forward. This team will continue to get better.”
Larson said the players never had a second of doubt about winning Miami’s first MAC title since 1998.
“Our energy was so much better (than that of the other teams),” she said. “We knew we could win from the beginning and just took that feeling and ran with it.”
Larson said the team plays so well together despite its youth because the players get along so well.
“We lift each other up,” she said. “It’s a form of synergy. We have a force that’s bigger than individuals.
“We encourage each other so well,” Larson added. “We’re all best friends. And each one of us is so talented, and we have an amazing coach.”
Larson is a good example of Miami’s team philosophy in what essentially is an individual sport (most team points come from singles matches).
“I feel like I’m playing for the team and the school as opposed to playing for myself,” Larson said. “This is bigger than me.”
Regardless of what happens in the NCAA, the RedHawks are a team to be reckoned with beyond the 2009 season.
“We’re not losing any players,” Joffe said, “which makes us insanely stronger for next year.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
“We certainly are stronger than our ranking would indicate.”
Howard Joffe
Miami tennis coach
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