Wake Forest Athletics
Top 25 Only the Starting Point for Demon Deacons Program
1/30/2020 5:15:00 PM | Women's Tennis, Les Johns
Wake Forest will look to build on its national recognition and take the next step in 2020
After four-straight seasons with NCAA Tournament appearances, Wake Forest Women's Tennis began the 2020 campaign with a national ranking.
The No. 24 Demon Deacons (3-1) fell in the ITA Opening Kickoff Weekend to No. 25 Ohio State Saturday, but bounced back with a sweep over San Diego on Sunday.
"It's the first time we've started the season in the top 25," Wake Forest coach Jeff Wyshner said. "One of our goals when I arrived back in 2010 was to get back into the top 25. Truthfully, I'd wished it would have happened a little bit quicker. We've spent a lot of time the last three years between 26 and 32, so we have been knocking on the door. In tennis, teams who are good usually stay good.
"There aren't a ton of upsets in tennis. If one person has a good day, it doesn't usually change the team results. There's no packing it in the box, like opposing teams do against our soccer team at times."
Senior Lexi Franco grabbed 12 wins a season ago, and was leading in her match Sunday when the Deacs clinched the 4-0 win over San Diego.
"We're excited to be in the top 25," she said. "We know it's just the starting point. Our goal is to keep working our way up the rankings."
Wyshner believes his program has taken small but steady steps forward in his nine seasons as coach.
"It's great to start there," he said about the preseason ranking. "It's a reflection of what we did last year, which is the grand scheme of things tells us it doesn't mean a whole lot. We have to go out and prove it. We did graduate a great senior class. But the way we played in the fall, plus the addition of some new players, we have the potential to be better than we were last year, which would be great.
"We've probably taken a small step forward for six years in a row. We haven't had a monumental jump anywhere in there, but for six years in a row you could make the argument that we've been a little better, and there's something to be said for that."
After making a bowl game each of the last four seasons, it'll be impossible to find a Wake Forest football player who will remember the lean 3-9 years without postseason play. The same holds true for the women's tennis team, after making the NCAA Tournament four years straight. That's worrisome for Wyshner.
"If anything, I'm a little worried that this group may not understand how hard it is to make the NCAA Tournament," he said. "We have no players who haven't made the tournament on the team. You have to finish the year in the top 42-43 in the country to make sure you earn an at-large if you don't win the conference. We want to remind them that there are 270 teams in the country who are all starting at the same spot. You have to go out and win some matches against quality teams to earn those points or else the math could work against us.
"Talent wise, are we one of the top 25 teams in the country? Absolutely. But if we don't go out and prove it, we could be sitting home in May. That's one of our challenges."
Gone from last year's squad are Emma Davis and Anna Ulyashchenko, who combined for 27 wins at single positions one and two in dual matches a year ago. But there have been some key additions, including Carolyn and Anna Campana, who competed at No. 1 and No. 3 singles Sunday against San Diego.
Anna is a true freshman from California, while her sister Carolyn is a sophomore transfer from Vanderbilt.
"What they've shown so far is that they're great assets to our team," Franco said about the Campana sisters. "We're excited to show what we have this year."
Wyshner, who completed his college undergrad work at Yale and then earned two graduate degrees from Columbia, enjoys coaching at a place like Wake Forest that values both education and athletics.
"If you look at anyone of the team or anyone who we've recruited, we've stressed the value of education," he said. "I believe in that. That's part of who I am. I don't think there are many schools where I would be as good of a fit for, because I'm able to combine my love of tennis and coaching with a school that provides that academic rigor and quality of degree.
"We start with what we want to be as a team, plus what we offer academically."
From an athletic perspective, Wyshner has enjoyed seeing the phenomenal investment in facilities in recent years across the campus.
"I'm incredibly grateful," he said. "I've coached at two schools where we didn't own any tennis courts. Getting here and having an eight-court indoor, plus having the courts over on campus was incredible then it's only grown from there.
"The Wake Will campaign has been incredible for all of us. One of the benefits at Wake is that we only sponsor 18 sports, with 13 head coaches. That allows Wake to commit themselves to the success of all of their programs. You really see that here. Wake is able to commit resources, whether that's personnelle, energy or facilities. The tutoring here is for any athlete who wants it, whether on the football team or tennis team."
The Deacs dropped the match Saturday to Ohio State and will enter ACC play in just a couple weeks when they travel to Clemson on Feb. 16.
"We don't have as much of an opportunity to grow our way into what we are," Wyshner said. "We have some matches early in the season that will play a big role into what we end up in the NCAA and seeding. We want to make it to the top 16, which is a key number, because then you get to host the first two rounds."
The Deacs return home to host Kansas at 4 p.m. Friday at the Wake Forest Tennis Center. The men's team is set to host Central Florida just three hours later.
"We would love to see more people come out to see us play," Wyshner said. "For us, an extra 20-40 people in the stands makes a tremendous difference, especially indoors where it gets pretty loud. We try to make our matches enjoyable and try to get some free food out to the fans.
"We really appreciate the people who come out even for a single match. Please come out to see us. We will notice every single person who walks through the door."
