“Since I’ve been here, in my 17 years, this is the most players we have qualified for this elite tournament, so that is very promising,” coach Jenny Mainz said.
During her career, Mainz has only had three players make the main draw and four in the qualifying rounds. This year alone, two have qualified for each. Maynetto, now a junior, will be in the main draw for singles. Sophomores Routliffe and Spielmann will be in the qualifying singles, where Jansen is also listed as an alternate. In doubles, national champions Jansen and Routliffe will be representing in the main draw for doubles. The championships will be played in Los Angeles, California, from Sept. 27 through Oct. 5.
“We are very capable of going to California and doing some damage,” Mainz said. “I mean, Maya and Erin will be seeded No. 1. Natalia probably won’t be seeded in singles, but Natalia could go win it.”
The team is coming off a successful road trip in which it sent players to both Baylor University and Duke for the first tournaments of the fall season. Most of the team traveled to Baylor with Mainz, including returning sophomore Carmen Blanco.
“I think it was a learning experience, because we took our freshmen to the tournament,” Blanco said. “Through the days we developed our chemistry as a team, and I think it got better through the tournament.”
Freshmen Aryn Greene and Bennett Dunn got their first taste of Crimson Tide tennis over the weekend at Baylor. Greene won two doubles matches as well as finishing the last day with a singles win against Texas A&M sophomore Mason Strickland.
“I was happy with how it went,” Greene said. “We were definitely the most supportive team out there, and I was happy I got my first singles and doubles wins. That was good, and I feel like we ended the tournament on a strong note on the last day.”
Greene and Dunn, along with the other players not attending the All-American Championships, will be in Greenville, South Carolina, over the weekend for the Furman Fall Classic.
