The Notre Dame women’s tennis team will step back out onto the court this weekend after a break from play since their 0-2 weekend against Boston College and Syracuse at home, when several players were unavailable.
“We had two hard-fought battles against BC and Syracuse and then [we] were put on a pause for last weekend,” head coach Alison Silverio said. “I think it was a great reset, for us, and allowed us to continue to consistently practice and work on areas that we want to sharpen and develop as we head into this weekend.”
Since then, the Irish have been focusing on the different parts of their game they can control in order to get points in close situations like those 3-4 losses.
“The biggest thing that we’ve really been focusing on over these past two weeks has been serve and return,” Silverio said. “ … Kind of understanding our plays, knowing our identity out there and again really sharpening the start of the point, both on the serving side and the return side.”
The team has been focusing on this throughout the season and will continue to do so, but their preparation for this weekend against Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia focused on both the start of the point skills and a bit more competition-focused preparation.
“We know from a competitive standpoint, we certainly need to be ready,” Silverio said. “Within these last two weeks we have continued to stay diligent with our fitness and our strength and conditioning and continuing to challenge our student-athletes in practice, put them in competitive situations, and in challenging situations where they’re going to be ready when we are in challenging situations this weekend against VT and UVA.”
One of the tougher parts of this season, however, has been off the court for the tennis team, including having to establish a roster and deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. This weekend will not be without its own obstacles.
“We won’t be at full capacity this weekend,” Silverio said. “We will be at full strength, as I like to say, you know, we will have our numbers. But we are still working through different situations, but certainly the lineup that we put out there will be ready, and we’re excited to get out there and compete.”
The Irish take on the Hokies at noon Saturday and the Cavaliers at noon Sunday.
