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Subotic, Wellman Are Taking Charge

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By MATTHEW PARKE

Tribune correspondent

Published: February 26, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - The 2009 River Ridge girls tennis team should be in a rebuilding year. Conventional wisdom would dictate that losing three seniors to graduation would force a team to take a step back.

However, the 2008 River Ridge girls did everything to throw conventional wisdom on its ear. As freshmen, Tijana Subotic and Nicola Wellman seized the top two seeds on an experienced team. Their breakout debut in the Sunshine Athletic Conference culminated in River Ridge's perfect season and a finals sweep in the Class 3A-District 5 tournament.

Now, Subotic and Wellman will have to take charge of the district title defense and set up the Royal Knights for a deeper postseason run. Though they are excited and cautiously optimistic, neither player is promising an identical result to last year's campaign.

"I hope we are good enough to win districts. Last year was amazing, hopefully we can top it," Subotic said.

If River Ridge bucks the trend of the rebuilding year, then it will be a result of the offseason work Wellman and Subotic put in to improve.
Wellman spent four days a week on the court to refine her serve, her forehand and her ground strokes. She also added to her tournament resume and tested her skills against the elite players in the area.

The added experience helped Wellman take over the No. 1 seed at River Ridge after she beat Subotic in a close preseason match.

"The competition was very different than high school tennis, it was way more intense," Wellman said. "It was good to play with a different variety of players."

Subotic said she had to spend more time on her academics, which cut into her practice regimen, but her season on the junior varsity volleyball team helped her improve her athleticism and mental toughness.

"I have more power. But overall my mental game has changed a lot," Subotic said. "I can think more about my opponent and be smarter on the court."

To adjust to each other in their role as No. 1 doubles partners, they participated in an USTA doubles tournament last summer and won two of their four matches.

"That was really fun. We played so awesome together," Wellman said. "We work so well with each other. She's left-handed and I'm right handed. That gives us more of an advantage."

Both players said they are going to be depended on more as team leaders to guide River Ridge through their title defense and beyond.

Subotic said it is a matter of keeping the team chemistry up through good morale and leadership by example.

"We are trying to make sure everyone has a positive attitude and to try our best every match. If we lose, it's OK. If we win, it's even better," Subotic said.

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