The Justice

Media Credit: David Sheppard-Brick

When Rachel Rosman '11 was just four years old, her father took her to tennis lessons, despite her admittedly low hand-eye coordination.

Fifteen years later, her hand-eye coordination has dramatically improved, and she has become a leader on the women's tennis team.

"I think she played very well," doubles partner Colleen Donnelly '08 said. "She had a lot of tough matches, and she's very close to beating many top players."

Rosman began the fall season at No. 2 singles, but coach Ben Lamanna switched her to No. 1 singles in October after a strong outing at the International Tennis Association regional tournament.

"I was really excited that I would be playing at that position because I know it's very important on the team, and it's really about what's best for the team and who's playing the best at what spot so we could all have good matches and good wins," Rosman said.

Rosman easily won her first match at No. 1 singles, defeating Trinity College rookie Robyn Williams 6-4, 6-1. She also played a strong match at No. 1 doubles, winning 8-3 over Williams and senior Brenna Driscoll.

"It was pretty much a joint effort to decide that she would be No. 1 singles," said Donnelly, who switched singles spots with Rosman. "I think [Lamanna] and I both could tell that she was ready for it and confident, so I wasn't surprised about that."

Despite having less experience than many of her opponents at No. 1 singles, Rosman learned to adapt her game to improve her play.

"A lot of the girls that I play are upperclassmen or seniors who have four years of college tennis experience on me and are more mentally tough than I am," Rosman said. "I just had to ... toughen up my game overall."

Lamanna helped Rosman play more aggressively, force her opponents to commit errors and close out points by coming into the net.

One of Rosman's best performances came April 5 against then-No. 12 Tufts University. Rosman contributed to the squad's only two wins that day, defeating rookie Julie Browne 6-4, 6-3 in singles before teaming with Donnelly at doubles en route to an 8-3 victory.

Rosman posted a team-high 20 singles wins, including two wins against University Athletic Association rivals University of Rochester and New York University. She also had 15 doubles victories.

"I think any time you can make improvements over the course of a season or a year, it's really good," Rosman said.­ "It really reflects how much time and dedication you put into your sport."

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