Tennis continues to climb the rankings

The Terrapin tennis teams' strong starts this season have gotten noticed.

In the latest release of the ITA Rankings, the men's team jumped from No. 63 to No. 45, and the women's squad flew from No. 58 to No. 43. Both the men's and women's rankings match the mark each team set nearly four years ago in February 2007.

But with newfound respect comes even more responsibility for the men. The Terps (8-2) will travel to Corpus Christi, Texas, to compete in the eight-team HEB Tournament of Champions. The two-day tournament will feature four ranked squads besides the Terps in No. 46 New Mexico, No. 52 DePaul, No. 50 BYU and No. 54 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

"I feel that the mentality for this tournament will have an effect down the road," coach Kyle Spencer said. "I expect all eight teams to be ranked at the end of the season, and it's going to be a great opportunity for us."

The women's team will be staying at home this weekend, but after last weekend's strenuous schedule — the Terps played three matches in just more than a span of 24 hours — it's probably for the best. Even after his team took 22 of 24 sets in the doubleheader against California (Pa.) and Delaware, coach Howard Joffe was displeased with the pressures put on the Terps, who have only six scholarship players.

"I feel like the doubleheader was a mistake," he said. "It was completely unreasonable, and now the players are tired and beat up. School's wearing them down as well, so we hardly feel refreshed."

Tomorrow, the Terps will be looking to take out their third ranked opponent this season when they host No. 56 Princeton at the Tennis Center at College Park. The Tigers' (5-5) record hardly explains their talent: Princeton's five losses have all come against top-30 teams, including No. 10 Vanderbilt and No. 22 Florida State.

"They're a very good team and have played against the best competition," Joffe said.

Two players' incredible streaks are still active for the women's team. Dual sport junior Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar is 9-0 for singles and 10-0 for doubles this season, and sophomore Ana Belzunce has yet to lose a singles match, with a record of 10-0.

munson@umdbk.com