Sonoma State Star

Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: Sports

Sophomore Stephanie Luk has taken over as leader for the Seawolves. [Click to enlarge]

Last Friday the Sonoma State women's tennis team played their first match against a conference opponent in UC San Diego. The schedule for this season has already presented some quality opponents as the Seawolves have taken on two Division I opponents in San Jose State and UC Davis, both matches away from home.
Opening conference play against UC San Diego, the defending CCAA Conference champions for the past four years, proved to be a daunting task. The Seawolves fell to the 34th ranked Tritons, but fought hard picking up two matches.
Stephanie Luk earned a win at the number one singles spot, while Dana Carollo and Jeanette Peck combined efforts to win their match in the number two doubles spot. One benefit of a tough schedule early in the season is it will prepare the team to compete at a high level and be ready to win conference matches.
The victorious Luk, a sophomore on a young Seawolves team, has held down the number one singles spot the entire year. "The San Jose State match kick started the season for us," said Luk. "We got a chance to see where everyone is with their game."
Due to wet weather, much of the inter-squad challenge matches were postponed, making it difficult to establish rankings among the team. Despite losing the San Jose State match, head coach, Tracey Prince, was able to get good feedback for arranging her lineup, which is determined by challenge matches and player performance.
Though Luk is only a sophomore, she has established herself as the leader of a team that includes four sophomores and three freshmen. She is quiet and composed on the court and sets the tone with her consistent play. As all good players do, she has improved over a year with experience.
"I feel like I'm a smarter player in the sense that I'm much more prepared for my matches," said Luk. Luk struggled in her previous match against a tough UC Santa Cruz number one, losing 6-3, 6-3. She showed her resilience against UC San Diego however, by sweeping her own match in a 6-4, 6-4. Such resilience will be essential to show younger players how to win in a long season.

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