The California University of Pennsylvania women’s tennis team returned from the NCAA Division II Championships last Friday in Denver carrying along mixed baggage.
On the down side, the Vulcans missed out on their ultimate goal of bringing home a national tile, a 5-2 loss to Cameron (Oklahoma) in the round of 16 foiling the bid.
As for the positive? That would best be explained by coach Pablo Montana, the architect of a program that has been to 10 consecutive rounds of 16 and to the final eight seven times in the past decade. Cal finished with an 18-4 mark that included a 10th consecutive undefeated season in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
“The Cameron match was the most exciting I’ve been a part of,” said Montana, whose team earned the No. 1 ranking in the Atlantic Region. “Usually, college matches will last three or four hours; this one lasted 5 hours and 15 minutes. It was an absolute bloodbath. We fought to the end. I asked my players to run through a wall for me, and they did that and then some.”
In college tennis, the nine-match format includes three doubles competitions followed by six singles matches. The first team to five wins. Cal took a 2-1 lead after doubles victories by senior Kiefer Shaw and sophomore Lena Dimmer and juniors Veronika Mikulis and Alyssa Savill. This led Montana to believe the Vulcans were destined for magnificence in the Mile High City.
“We were feeling good about ourselves,” he said.
The turning point came when team captain Mikulis and Savill could not close out on 5-4 and 5-2 third-set advantages, respectively, in singles play. This provided No. 15 Cameron with the momentum to emerge victorious.
“So close,” said Montana, an Upper St. Clair resident who was a two-time All-American at the University of Tennessee and once earned a No. 368 professional ranking. “The girls left everything out there that day.”
History, and a talented roster that features international, national and local talent, says Cal is a good bet to return to nationals. Nine of its 10 players are scheduled to come back.
That group includes international members Mikulis (Canada), Savill (Australia), Dimmer (Germany) and freshmen Holly Bennett (United Kingdom) and Jacqueline Olivia (Indonesia). Junior Jasi Witherspoon of Macon, Ga., and sophomore Katie Olson of Laguna Beach, Calif., make up the non-Pennsylvania contingent, while freshmen Maura Gray (Keystone Oaks) and Liz Wohar (California) represent the WPIAL.
Shaw (Canada) is the lone senior.
“I think it’s awesome to be around players from so many different cultures,” said Gray, who took a medical redshirt due to a stress fracture in her foot. “You learn so much. You get to play great tennis here and you get the chance to become better-rounded.”
One challenge for players such as Gray and Wohar, who joined the Vulcans midseason and did not travel to Denver, is earning playing time on a team with such a widespread recruiting net. They could potentially be stars elsewhere, and play much sooner, but that is all part of the challenge, according to Wohar.
“There’s something to be said for being at the bottom and working your way up,” said Wohar, whose mother, Linda, was a former tennis player at Cal. “In tennis, it entirely depends on how hard you’re willing to work.”
Cal is appealing to recruits on a global level for multiple reasons. At the top of the list is Montana, given the program’s long-running success and his professional background. He also made a splash in 2009 when Julia Cohen transferred from Division I Miami (Fla) to Cal and ultimately earned a top-100 professional ranking. Other players took notice.
It should be noted that Cal is not unique in drawing players from outside the U.S. As an example, six of the seven players on IUP’s roster are from out of the country.
An added attraction at Cal is its state-of-the-art tennis facilities, built in 2009. Montana said the cost was around $1.6 million. The Vulcans also have access to indoor courts at Glen Creek Tennis Club in South Park, which is about 25 minutes from campus.
The big question: Can Cal win it all? This is challenging for Northeastern schools because they don’t get nearly as much outdoor practice time as teams from warmer climates. Driving home this point is the fact Armstrong State University in Savannah, Ga., won the title this year and has won eight of the past 12. Runner-up Barry University in Miami has won two of the past six titles.
Not since Southern Illinois University Edwardsville won four consecutive championships from 1986-89 has a team from a cooler climate won the national title.
“You hate to make excuses, but the weather is a factor,” Montana said. “This spring, we had about 20 outdoor practices, compared to teams down south who probably had 90 or 100. But that’s the way it is. You have to figure out how to get past it.”
First Published: June 3, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
