In mid-April, the Terrapin women’s tennis team entered the final week of its regular season as a battered unit.
Coming off seven consecutive 7-0 losses in ACC play and without a conference point since Feb. 26, any chance to contend for postseason play had long since faded. But there was still something left to prove.
In a season short on success, the Terps took two of their last four matches with wins against Georgetown and Richmond, while also avoiding shutouts in their final two conference matches.
The brief brush with victory showed just how far the Terps had come under first-year coach Howard Joffe, but also just how glaring the disparity in talent between the Terps and the ACC’s upper echelon remained.
After taking down the Terps 5-2 last year, Richmond returned an almost-identical lineup to College Park against a revamped Terps’ squad on April 17. After enduring a decisive 6-1 loss the day before to conference foe N.C. State, the Terps proved their mettle against the Spiders in a 6-1 win.
“Richmond’s personnel didn’t change,” Joffe said. “This is the one tangible thing that speaks to our improvement. The attitude and direction are on a trajectory for good things.”
While the season’s results were nothing special — the Terps were winless in the ACC for the second time in three seasons and finished 5-14 overall — the Terps met Joffe’s top goal: steady improvement for a team lacking elite talent.
“The season was a success when seen through the lenses of how far we’ve come,” Joffe said. “We were a very, very weak team, but the team is hugely improved player-for-player.”
That much was obvious in the Terps’ April 14 match against Georgetown. Both teams had suffered 4-3 losses to a weak Rutgers team earlier in the season, but when the Terps and Hoyas met on their own court, there was nothing close about their match. The Terps crushed their local rival 6-1.
“Our season results aren’t commendable on paper,” said senior Lisa Miller, who spent her first three seasons under former coach Martin Novak. “But I’ve witnessed first-hand the improvement and renewed passion among our team.”
With the team’s growth and the arrival of what Joffe believes to be the country’s best recruiting class in the fall, the Terps may soon remove themselves from the ACC’s cellar.
The newcomers include Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, a highly touted recruit who arrived from Spain this spring but was forced to sit the season out due to NCAA transfer rules.
Sanchez-Quintanar, who defeated 2009 Junior Wimbledon singles champion Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in straight sets in a practice match earlier this season, will team up with at least three other recruits, according to Joffe, to help offset the graduation of top singles players Maggie MacKeever and Miller.
“Obviously losing Maggie and Lisa, we lose a certain amount of leadership and experience,” Joffe said. “But we have some players coming in who can play in the top spots.”
Joffe has a track record of reviving programs. During the two years he spent at Miami (Ohio) before arriving in College Park, he transformed a mediocre RedHawks team into Mid-American Conference champions, leading them to their first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.
“Howard has brought new life to this program,” Miller said. “He will surely lead the team to an ACC title in the next few years, mark my words.”
Joffe envisions a similar transformation for the Terps’ program to the one he oversaw at Miami. It may be a more impressive feat in the cutthroat ACC, where the Terps have now lost 46 of their last 48 conference matches.
Joffe said the incoming recruits will likely take the top four singles slots for the Terps next season, leaving the final two spots to be fought for by returning starters, with the early advantage to vastly improved underclassmen Julia Huschke and Jordan Hansbrough.
“I foresee us, at a surface level, being a way more successful team next year,” Joffe said. “With the recruits and on the back of the work that’s been done this year, we will be much improved.”
cwalsh@umdbk.com
