Against Unique Backdrop, Women's Tennis Hits the Court

College tennis players normally digest their craft through scores of repetitive actions. They practice and play through thousands of ball strikes and plot cerebral outcomes based on the massive understanding generated by every shot. They battle opponents in a quest for persistent consistency and their lifeline is spread through the reactionary bounces within the lines of courts across the world.

Their success is built by how well they handle peculiar idiosyncrasies, which is why their 2020-21 season built a commonality by being uncommon. For the first time, a year-round sport boiled down to a single spring sprint, and the Boston College student-athletes accustomed to spending their entire lives together are now savoring the opportunity to compete at a frenetic pace with a season that starts this weekend.

"There's no question that every team is kind of in a similar situation," Eagles head coach Nigel Bentley said. "As a developmental step, the process is a big myth, and the younger players really missed out on opportunities for us to evaluate their games and really target their strengths and weaknesses. But we're not alone, and the energy, the vibe, the enthusiasm, the anticipation of our players is through the roof. They're so excited to just play again."

There are several noticeable differences about the 2021 college tennis season. The lack of a fall season meant the usual invitational tournaments weren't played, but protocols and timing contributed to a smaller spring campaign. Last year's winter and spring season started in January with a dual meet at Dartmouth and continued nonstop through to March's pandemic-induced conclusion. The seven-week season enabled a 9-5 finish with four home victories and a sterling 5-1 record on the road.

BC went undefeated in non-conference play and only completed two weekends' worth of league play when the season met its demise, a far cry from this year's 16-match slate. Less than a handful are in and around the home courts of Massachusetts with the majority of matches instead coming from the elite competition of the ACC.

"A lot of it went back to self-accountability," Bentley said. "The athletes really needed to be self-accountable because we would start and shut down and start and shut down. We had starts and stops through the fall that really prevented us from getting any real routine or rhythm, but our first week back (in the spring) has been pretty good. We've had solid practices, and people are playing well."

It's a simple truth that reveals the mindset of players fully appreciative of their opportunity to play. Returning senior Kylie Wilcox thought her career ended last year after a season in which she went 10-6 in singles play and 9-7 in doubles play. She earned accolades as the ITA Northeast Senior Player of the Year and reached the Round of 16 at the ITA Regional Championships in both singles and doubles.

Her duo with Yufei Long finished the year ranked No. 38 in the nation and earned a major win by defeating Yale's Fall All-American Doubles championship pairing, but she chose to return for a fifth year after the NCAA granted all spring athletes an eligibility waiver for their lost season.

Long, meanwhile, finished the year ranked 79th nationally in singles with a 12-12 record. She earned BC's second-ever berth in the ITA Women's All-American Championships singles draw and battled two of the best tennis players in the nation - Texas' Anna Turati and Illinois' Asuka Kawai - before dropping out of the double-elimination tournament, and she separately went 2-1 at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships.

"We ended last year with a tough loss to Notre Dame that didn't sit well," Wilcox said. "For a long period of about a month, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to return to BC, but then Nigel called me and said I could come back for a fifth year. That was the best feeling ever because I knew my tennis career could have ended (with the loss). I'm super grateful to be back."

"I'm personally very excited (to get started)," Long agreed. "I definitely see a lot of passion and excitement in everyone because we didn't get to compete during the fall. I think that's a factor that made us even more excited to have the chance to prove our ability to compete and persevere through a hard situation."

Both are part of a nucleus built around the energy brought to the court by fellow senior Natasha Irani. The third captain with Long and Wilcox, she went 12-8 last year and won the first six matches of her spring season. She likewise paired with Long for a stretch to go 6-3 in doubles play before posting a 6-8 overall record with a 3-2 mark in the spring.

"We have a lot of experience in the lineup," Irani said. "A lot of our players are upperclassmen, and that's a huge advantage. The freshmen are really strong, and they're excited and ready to play (when we get started) this weekend."

"These players are all really good friends," Bentley said. "I think they all missed that vibe of practice every day, and I've set a goal for myself and the coaches to make practice be the highlight of their day. We want them to look forward to going to practice to see their friends, their teammates, their coaches, and I think having that daily, regular practice on their schedule can fill any voids. You could feel the smiles under their masks on the first day, and I think everyone is just really thrilled to be back."

Boston College kicks off the 2021 spring season on Friday with its first match against Army from the team's home court in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The Eagles then kick off their ACC slate on Saturday against Syracuse before playing their first road match next weekend at UMass. The conference schedule resumes on the road the weekend after against Notre Dame and Louisville with visits from Virginia and Virginia Tech the following weekend.

"We're very grateful to the athletic director and our program administrator, Jim O'Neill, for making this possible," Bentley said. "All of the sacrifices have been hard for the entire athletic department. But now that we're here, we're going to go out there and do everything we can to play our very best tennis."

Against Unique Backdrop, Women's Tennis Hits the Court

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Players Mentioned

Natasha Irani

Yufei Long

Kylie Wilcox