College students often dream of a tasty home-cooked meal and a good night's sleep in their own bed. Homesickness can become especially acute on the long road trips prevalent in UAA conference play. But for tennis players Rob Friedman '06 and Catie Albert '04, a road trip to St. Louis this past weekend served as a rare homecoming.
Friedman, a St. Louis native and Albert, from nearby Belleville, Il. were fortunate enough to spend two nights at home this weekend, eating familiar foods and seeing familiar sites. But the Brandeis men's and women's teams were equally fortunate, as the men stayed at Friedman's house while the women bunked with Albert's family.
"It was [great] being home and playing in front of family and friends, on the tennis courts [I was] playing on while growing up," Friedman said.
Unfortunately, the men's and women's teams did not receive warm receptions from their opponents, McKendree College and Washington University.
The men's team (3-3) lost 7-2 to McKendree on Friday and 5-1 to WashU on Sunday. Against McKendree the men had difficulty adjusting to high winds because they have had very little time to practice outside this season. Their previous three matches this season had been indoors, and the recent snow left just three days of outdoor practice before travelling to St. Louis. The lone singles win for Brandeis came from Mike Vulfovich '07 at number three singles, who won a three-setter. The Judges' other win came from the number three doubles team of Jamie Metrick '07 and Chris Hersel '06, and 8-4 victory.
At WashU, the match was closer than the score would indicate. Vulfovich lost a three-setter, as did Friedman. Metrick lost a close two-setter, 7-5, 6-4, while the lone win for Brandeis came from number four Allen Burk '04 who won 7-5, 6-4.
"We had a really good time on the trip overall, but it was certainly disappointing to lose both matches," Friedman said."We wished we could have had better results against McKendree and against divisional rival Washington University, but there were still a lot of positives to take out of the weekend. It was a good experience, and one we can learn from."
The women fared better than the men, at least against McKendree, whom they defeated 9-0. The Bearcats won just a handful of games total.
But against WashU, the women fell 8-1. Jenn Krueger '07 had the only victory for Brandeis, a 6-2, 6-2 victory at the top singles spot. She was successful because she was able to adapt to the wind.
"The wind favored her because she's a wonderful athlete who played very smart," Coach Rocky Jarvis said.
Christine Clancy '06 was also able to adapt to the windy weather, but lost a tough singles match 7-6, 6-4.
"Christine played a very good match, mostly because of her athleticism," Jarvis said.
The other women were not able to adapt because "They are shot-makers, and with the 25 to 30 mile-per-hour cross-wind that was there on Friday, it was very difficult to make a lot of big shots," Jarvis said.
Despite the difficulty of the opponents, Jarvis feels that"We were thoroughly prepared for WashU, but not the weather."
Unfortunately, the weather will not be the only obstacle for the men's and women's teams this season. The two biggest challenges the teams face are injuries and the sheer difficulty of their schedule.
On the women's side, the team is regularly short five of its 12 players for any given match. The men's team often has a similar number of injuries as well. Some of these are short-term, but for others like Burk, the men's captain, the injuries are constant. He has had a bad shoulder since high school, and as a result he only plays against Brandeis' toughest opponents.
"Allen has had a really brave career. He is always in pain and never has time to practice," Jarvis said.
Despite the constant discomfort, Burk has been one of the men's team's most dependable players, winning seven out of his 10 matches played last spring.
Jarvis finds the recent increase in injuries to be troubling. He attributes this unfortunate trend to his players trying to imitate the style of play exhibited by today's professionals.
"A lot of the injuries are to the shoulder and that is usually caused by over-hitting." Everyone wants to be like [world number one Andy] Roddick and hit 125 mph serves," he said."The game used to be more of a positioning game. It's all power now. Tennis puts a huge stress on your body if you try to play it full out."
Since it is difficult to control injuries, the tennis teams will focus on what they can control and that is beating their opponents. With Amherst and Emory University, the top two teams in the country still ahead, the Judges' schedule will not get easier anytime soon.
"We play one of the toughest schedules of anyone in the country," Jarvis said.
It is more difficult in the beginning than at the end, but that has both positives and negatives.
"It helps us improve our match skills, but it hurts our record," Clancy said. It would've been nice to start off with a few easier matches, but it's really good to face tough competition," she said.
The reason the Judges have taken on such an ambitious schedule is that the players wanted it, but also because Jarvis is trying to make Brandeis into a perennial national tennis power. Due to injuries, he does not expect the Judges to be dominant this year, but believes that both the men and women are only a "player or two away from being a national level team."
The next few weeks will be critical for both teams. The women play Bates College, Union College, Smith College and Wellesley College at home between April 3 and April 18. These are all teams the women can, and will need to beat in order to establish a top spot in New England.
The men will be playing Tufts University at home on April 15. The men have not beaten Tufts in several years, and look forward to knocking off their rivals.
Overall, Jarvis is optimistic about the rest of the season.
"We will beat who we're supposed to beat. If we can catch just two or three top teams at the right time, then we'll probably win," he said.