Sydney Campbell (above), Frances Altick (below left), and Astra Sharma (below right), will employ their elite talents as VU women’s tennis aims to excel once again

Those are the words of the phenomenal Geoff McDonald, who is now fully engaged in his 22nd year as VU women’s tennis coach. The team is the defending national champion and returns its top three players from last year’s elite national championship group. The 57 year old McDonald has taken VU teams to 11 Sweet 16’s, two Elite Eights, two Final Fours, two national championship appearances and last year’s crowning jewel, an NCAA championship.

But McDonald and the team are doing the polar opposite of resting on their past laurels. They are 6-2 this season already with wins over International Tennis Association top 10 teams Virginia and Stanford, which has won 17 national titles in their existence, and victories over top 25 teams Duke and Northwestern. We have lost twice to No.6 Ohio State, which McDonald calls “a great indoors team.” Maybe we’ll see them in an outdoor event in April-May. We are presently ranked fifth in the country by the ITA. Cal is No.1, UNC is No.2, Florida is No.3 and Georgia is No.4. The competition is fierce both in the SEC and nationally, but this Commodores squad is fully equipped to make their mark in 2016.

McDonald’s team has the highest GPA of any team in the school at 3.5. They come in at 7 AM in the morning to workout. Our top three players are Frances Altick, Sydney Campbell and Astra Sharma, who was amazing in the national championship match against UCLA last year. Frances is ranked 16th, Sydney is 20th and Astra is 22nd respectively in the country. Geoff says these three girls are very close to being world class players.

Geoff has talked to Corbs about the challenge of repeating and Corbs told him that’s not the focus. It’s about getting better each day, improving. Geoff carries that mantra to his 2016 team.

McDonald likes his  other players just as much as they will be key contributors to the team’s mission to be “peaking in April.” Georgina Sellyn was hurt last year, but played No.1 on the team two years ago, and McDonald calls her ” a secret weapon.” Senior Courtney Colton is a leader and a very fine player. Senior Ellie Yates is another leader. Freshman Fernanda Contreras and Summer Dvorak are highly talented newcomers who can help this team in doubles and in singles in certain key situations. Senior Maggie Leavell and sophomore Payton Robinette bring experience and leadership.

McDonald calls the SEC “the ultimate league” with Florida and Georgia having perennially great team. Geoff calls Mississippi State, Kentucky and LSU as “the best I’ve seen them.

“You can be 10th in the conference and be ranked 20th in the country,” McDonald adds.

Key national teams are Cal, UNC, UVA, Stanford, Ohio State, TCU and Texas A&M is also very good in the conference and nationally.

McDonald uses Stanford as the standard bearer for the ultimate national program. The Cardinal have won 17 national titles and their quarterfinal appearance last year was a down year for them.

“They have great weather and unbelievable academics, it’s an incredible place, McDonald says. “If they offer kids, the kids usually want to go there.”

But McDonald has elevated our program to that level.

“We’ve been good for a long time,” he says. “We have really good kids who can do the work here and represent the school well. Yeah, I think we are being discussed by the top recruits more and more.”

After going to Baylor this Saturday, where McDonald says, “We have good memories” as the team won the national title in Waco last year, we play Kentucky at home Sunday, March 6th, at 1 PM CT  to open conference play. Then we go to South Carolina (Wednesday, March 9th) and Florida (Saturday, March 12th). We then have home matches vs A&M, Thursday, March, 17th at 4 PM CT, LSU, Saturday, March, 19th, Noon CT, Tennessee, Thursday,March 24th @ 4 PM CT, and Georgia, Saturday, March 26th at Noon CT. Then we have four straight on the road @ State, Thursday, March 31st, Ole Miss, Saturday, April 2nd, Missouri, Friday April 8th, and  Arkansas, Sunday, April 10th, before coming home to complete the regular season against Auburn, Friday, April 15th at 4 PM CT, and Alabama, Sunday April 17th at 1 PM CT.

The SEC Tournament will be held in Baton Rouge, LA, starting Wednesday, April 20th. The NCAA Regionals will begin May 13th, a Friday, at a site to be determined. The Sweet 16 is Thursday, May 19th at Tulsa, OK. And the singles and doubles championships will be Wednesday, May 25th in Tulsa.

So a lot of work to do. The team has worked extremely hard with Strength and Conditioning Coach Emil Iankov, whom McDonald calls, “the best in the country.

“We were the fittest team in the country last year and we will be again this year. He brings an old school approach. He works our girls hard and intelligently.”

So the pieces are in place for another stellar year for the VU women’s tennis team. Can we repeat? Yes. Will we repeat? We’ve got a shot. With the work ethic of the girls, their unquestionable talent and our outstanding coaching by Geoff,  Associate Head coach Aleke Tsoubanos and Volunteer Assistant Kieran Burke, we’ve got all the tools in place to win a national championship.

As Corbs and our baseball team know, it’s an incredible grind to repeat. Geoff understands that too, but believes it can certainly be a special season for his team.

It’ll be thrilling to watch the girls matriculate in 2016. The blog will be on top of the girls’ progress. They deserve it. Geoff deserves it. He has built a program that is second to none nationally. They are a gem in Vanderbilt Athletics and deserve all the accolades that come their way this season.

It will be an electric 2016 season. Let’s enjoy the journey along with Geoff and his girls.