Women's Tennis | 2/15/2023 1:01:00 PM
EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T has six women's tennis players. Insignificant, you say? Big deal? Perhaps to Division I programs with an established history that has allowed for adding depth over numerous years.
But for an A&T women's tennis program trying to build a winning tradition and who has had to go with fewer than six players in years past, starting the 2023 season with six players is a big deal. It is a mighty step forward for a program entering the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) with the goal of establishing meaningful depth and wins.
The Aggies open the 2023 women's tennis season at 3 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 16, at North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, NC. A&T will debut with five new players and one returner in sophomore Cielo Tapia-Cruz. Tapia-Cruz went 6-5 in singles play last season and accounted for all five of the Aggies doubles wins.
"Cielo has matured a lot as a player and a person," said A&T head coach Ansel Bivens. "She was by far the best player last year as a freshman, and she had to step into a leadership role that is usually meant for a senior with more experience, but she handled last season with grace."
But Tapia-Cruz comes into this season with renewed enthusiasm after serving as the leader of an 0-12 team. The teammates surrounding her this season will improve her because they can match and, at times, exceed her skill level, making her and the team better.
"She is a leader. She is a caring individual. She makes the team a unit. Her contribution to helping this program is immense," said Bivens. "I could not do this without her. She is the character of this program. The ladies and I are lucky to have her."
Among Tapia-Cruz's new teammates is freshman Isabella Romanichen, out of Curitiba, Brazil. During the Elon Invitational in the fall, Romanichen won the Acorn Draw in dominating fashion, winning all three matches in straight sets. Another freshman, Nuria Sanz (Valencia, Spain), also had a dominant performance at Elon, winning the Oak Draw. Similar to Romanichen, Sanz won all three matches in straight sets.
At the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals, Sanz recorded the only Aggies win after a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory against Presbyterian's Claire Giddings in the consolation bracket. Lana Caculovic (Dugo Selo, Croatia) teamed with Romanichen and Sanz to succeed during the fall. Caculovic teamed with Romanichen to win the Acorn Doubles Draw by going 3-0.
Later in the fall, Caculovic won her match against Tennessee State's Aroa Castillo 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of Flight A at the NCCU Invitational hosted by North Carolina Central. She did lose in the second round to second-seeded Davidson player Josephine Schaffer. The Aggies added two new players since the fall in Nour Gueblaoui (Monastir, Tunisia) and Asima Sazan (Astana, Kazakhstan).
"We have a fresh group of wonderful ladies," said Bivens. "What these ladies bring, particularly Lana and Isabella is a high-level skill fashioned for Division I tennis. For a long time, we could not get ladies to come and play that were of this caliber. Now we are starting to. It began with Cielo, and I promised her I would bring her some help, and I feel I have done that by bringing these new ladies in.
These players will now allow us to start being competitive as a program. We just need to build confidence as a team by winning. We will go step by step."
The first step will be Thursday in Rocky Mount. After that, the schedule will include some traditional HBCUs, a few of A&T's rivals from its one year in the Big South Conference last season and a few CAA teams. Women's and men's tennis is unique in the CAA, where teams are not required to play a full slate of CAA matches.
But there will be a CAA women's tennis tournament April 20-23 at Mackesy Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va. But even with the excitement of having six players, the Aggies may be shorthanded to start the year because of injuries. But as the season progresses, the Aggies rebuilding and rebranding efforts should be evident.
"They are excited about the season," said Bivens. "I am excited to see our freshmen be brave and fight for everything. We are leaving nothing on the table. This is their time. I will sit back and enjoy watching them grow into fine tennis players and wonderful Aggie ambassadors."
