FULLERTON, Calif. – Third-year head coach Dianne Matias is set for Cal State Fullerton's season opener on Wednesday as the women's tennis team hosts UC San Diego at Titan Tennis Courts with the match scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. start. As always, admission is FREE.
Matias joined FullertonTitans.com for a quick question and answer session as she enters the spring with a young squad.
FullertonTitans.com: This is your third year with the program, and you'll enter the season with Big West All-Conference players Camille De Leon and Alexis Valenzuela as your veterans leading six underclassmen. How have their respective roles evolved over the last three seasons?
Dianne Matias: Alexis and Camille have taken more of a leadership position this season as they are our co-captains this year. During their freshman and sophomore seasons, they always led by example through their tremendous work ethic and dedication to the team. Their experience and knowledge from the last two years will help us. I'm confident our veterans will be able to fill that leadership role successfully.
FT: Your roster consists of three returners and five newcomers, can you give Titan fans an idea of your lineup?
DM: We have a fairly young team this year with four true freshmen and no seniors. Our freshmen and returners are all accomplished players that are capable of playing at any spot in the lineup. The great thing about this group is that they are versatile which gives us more options with the doubles teams and singles lineup.
FT: In looking at the freshman class, it includes three student-athletes from California as well as two international student-athletes. Can you tell Titan fans about the recruiting process for both local and international players?
DM: The recruiting process varies year to year. We're always looking for the best players, especially Californians. The administration continues to be extremely supportive of the program and we have the option of being able to recruit a few international players.
FT: You had quite a bit of doubles success in the fall. For the first time in their careers Camille De Leon and Alexis Valenzuela paired with one another with a 5-2 record. Are you planning on that team continuing its partnership into the spring, and if so, what attributes makes the De Leon/Valenzuela combination so successful?
DM: We have mixed and matched different combinations of the doubles teams during the fall tournaments and practice. With this group being so flexible, it gives us the luxury of being able to mix the teams around giving us more than one option with pairs that play well together.
FT: Many Titan fans may not know that admission to matches at Titan Tennis Courts is free of charge. You have scheduled 12 home matches this season, including nine in the months of March and April. Can you tell Titan fans what the game day experience is like at Titan Tennis Courts?
DM: College tennis matches are a little different from the other sports. There are a total of 7 points to be won. We have several matches going at once. We start out with three doubles matches being played simultaneously, and whichever team wins 2-out-of-3 doubles matches captures one point. After that six singles matches are played, and each match you win counts as a point. It gets really exciting when the matches are tied 3-3 and the last match is the deciding point.
The last couple of years the Intercollegiate Tennis Association has been experimenting with the scoring system to make college tennis more exciting for the fans. This year, we are playing only one set for doubles instead of an 8-game pro-set, which makes doubles a lot faster. Also, there is no ad-scoring, it features a sudden death point played at deuce in singles and doubles. We also encourage cheering in between the points. Our student-athletes love it when we have big crowd and everyone is appropriately cheering loud and clapping. We feed off of that energy and support.