Q&A with Paige Yaroshuk-Tews

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team won five of its final six matches of the regular season to post a 16-6 (9-5 ACC) record entering the ACC Championship.
 
The Hurricanes earned the fifth seed in the tournament and begin play Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against a to-be-determined opponent at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.
 
HurricaneSports.com caught up with 18th-year head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews to get her reflections on the regular season and her thoughts on the upcoming postseason tournaments.
 
HS.com: The regular season is in the books. What is your assessment of where your team stands at this moment?
 
Coach: I think we’re definitely a stronger team right now in April than we were in end of January, end of February and even into March. I think we’ve matured a lot. I think we’ve learned a lot. We’ve learned to put together team matches and [we have] new players in the lineup. It’s not necessarily their talent or their tennis, it’s their understanding of how matches are won and how the matches are handled. The tennis has always been there; it’s been the consistency that’s been a little bit of an issue. It’s been completing dual matches that’s been a little bit of an issue and it’s been mindset that’s been a little bit of an issue. We’re in a much better spot in those three areas than we were at the beginning of the year.
 
HS.com: You have four new players, two of whom arrived in January. How much have you seen the team grow together off the court and then how much does that help on the court?
 
Coach: I’ve seen them grow a lot. I think this is one of the closest teams we’ve had in a long time. We do not have one odd person out. They all respect each other, they all get along, they’re all friendly and then when they step between the lines, they hold each other accountable. [They know] where their weaknesses are, they know where their strengths are and they’re constantly looking to improve both. But their friendships off the court definitely help them on the court. I’m seeing that more. The more that they’re hanging out and the more they’re getting to know each other, I think the tougher and the more committed they are to each other once the match starts.
 
HS.com: Heading into the postseason—you start ACC Championship play Thursday—what are the keys for your team in that stage of the season?
 
Coach: I think, right now, obviously, the postseason is about handling nerves. I think we’re going to do a pretty good job of that. It’s about being enthusiastic. It’s about loving what you’re doing in April as much as you did at the beginning of the season. We talked a lot about trying to be the most enthusiastic team [in the] postseason, the most enthusiastic team walking into Cary. A lot of kids are walking into Cary and they’re dinged up, they’re tired, they’ve got pressure on them to win the tournament. I don’t want that for this group. I want this group to just go out and focus on every point they’re playing, really break it down and make it very simplistic. If we can bring that enthusiasm to every match, who knows what could happen. I think we’ve proven that we can play with everyone in the conference—everybody in the country—and we’ve just got to do it.
 
HS.com: Do you set specific goals with your team for ACCs or NCAAs or how do you approach it differently?
 
Coach: No, I set specific goals with them daily. So, the goals that they have today when they’re playing these practice matches is honestly no different than the goals they have come Thursday. We have to play hard, we have to play disciplined and we have to play together. We have to do that in practice, we have to do that in matches. We have to do that at home in a dual match in 80-degree weather, we have to do that indoors on fast courts, we have to do that at ACCs, we have to do that at NCAAs and we have to continue to just stay together as a team. The postseason, of course, I get that it’s more important and everyone wants to do better in the postseason and, yes, you do have something to lose. I’m never going to say you don’t have anything to lose because you’ve got your season to lose, but no, we don’t approach these matches up in Cary any differently than we approach practice.
 
HS.com: You obviously have had a lot of success in postseasons in your career. Are there any specific keys, either on or off the court, you have seen that you think, regardless of individual players or teams, lead to success in the postseason?
 
Coach: I think, over the years, what I believe has proven to work is that I really look at the season as a process. These kids, whether they’re coming off of a big win or a bad loss, we hit them hard the next day at practice and we continuously raise the bar. I could be very relentless during the dual match season—we, as coaches, can be relentless—and I think that toward the end of the season, we kind of start letting up on the gas a little bit from that perspective and then we just let the kids kind of figure it out and find it for themselves, and they typically do. Toughness has always been a super important thing with this program. We have to out-compete other teams, we have to be tougher. That’s sports in general. So, if you’re not focusing on toughness, I don’t know how you can expect your team to be tough. So, focusing on toughness and trying to get these kids just tougher to get these kids to become tougher human beings is something that I do every single day, every time I talk to them, every time I’m around them. I believe that when we hit postseason, we’re pretty darn tough and toughness will take you very far.
 
HS.com: Each season is obviously different. What have you learned about this year’s Miami Hurricanes team and what is it that has been different about them?
 
Coach: I speak to these girls a lot and I’ve spoken to a lot of teams about having short memories [and with some players on this team]. I’m seeing that really implemented in this program. Sometimes, you talk about things and for the kids, it’s in one ear, out the other, but with this team specifically [that is not the case]. For instance, you look at [senior Daniella] Roldan, she is playing such an important role in our success. Maybe in singles she’s not playing the same role that she’s been playing in doubles, but she’s been able to separate that. What we have right now with these girls, we have a different level of maturity and, basically, they’re listening to me with the philosophy of having a short memory. I really felt that they have started to implement this into their daily routine, whereas sometimes I feel like in past seasons they haven’t [always done that] with the short memories. They’ve held onto things a little bit longer.
 
I think that’s a big difference with this team. I think that this team has, on some levels, a ton of maturity and on, some levels, they don’t. [For example, at times, they can be] super immature, but in regards to having a short memory and in regards to moving on and letting things go, they’re doing a very good job of that, whether it’s a game, a doubles point, a singles match or an overall match. They’re recovering quicker from negative situations and that’s kind of what I have seen the past six weeks from this group.
 
HS.com: Lastly, one thing on the individual front. Obviously, junior Estela Perez-Somarriba is again turning in one of the best seasons in program history and of any player in the country. What have you seen from in her 2019 that has made her so successful and what does she need to do to keep this level of play moving forward?
 
Coach: I see her dealing with adversity better. I see her dealing with adversity with more poise, with more calmness. There’s not a whole lot you can improve with Stela, but being in the position she’s in and always playing the best opponent that your opponents have, she is in a lot of adverse situations. She’s in situations where, if you don’t play lights-out tennis, you lose and she’s always playing kids that truly have nothing to lose. They’re playing her as free as could be and she’s got a target on her chest. I think, in past years, she protected herself and her position a little bit more. This year, I see her opening up a little bit more and I see her playing more freely in tough situations. I really see her handling adverse situations better. There are going to be times like this past weekend, she was down 1-4 on a changeover and she just calmly walks back out there, gets back to work and figures it out. That’s something that we talked about a lot at the end of last year, so she’s definitely made a change which is great.