After practice at 8:30 a.m., the Syracuse tennis team gathers around a television set in the Drumlins Tennis Center and listens to their coach as he breaks down plays. Critiquing footwork and applauding serves, Jensen might not be talking about his team at the moment, but they listen intently to his comments anyway.

Second-year head coach Jensen is serving as a color analyst for ESPN’s coverage of the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia. And back in Syracuse, his team tries to catch as much of him as they can.

Despite Jensen’s absence for the second consecutive year due to the event, the Orange will begin its season tonight at Drumlins against Big East rival Cincinnati at 6 p.m.

Coaching responsibilities are in the hands of assistant coach Shelley George until Jensen returns on Jan. 28. Jensen will continue to miss the beginnings of the collegiate tennis seasons, at least until his contract with ESPN expires, George said.

Still active as head coach, though, Jensen has been communicating with George and his players on a daily basis, e-mailing instructions and words of advice for the upcoming matches.

In Jensen’s first year, Syracuse finished fifth at the Big East Women’s Tennis Championship Tournament, winning the last three conference matches of the 2006-07 season to earn a sixth seed with a 4-3 conference record.

‘This year’s team has a lot more energy, enthusiasm and direction,’ said George, and off-season workouts and weight-training sessions have led to better conditioning and the prevention of injuries, unlike last season that began with two injured seniors.

Jensen has planted fresh faces to this year’s team, adding four freshmen to the lineup, which consists of only no seniors and only one junior.

Despite the inexperience of conference play for the incoming athletes, George is confident the young team is ready to open the season this weekend against two Big East opponents and without the presence of its head coach.

Coach Jensen and I ‘just felt like we’re ready to go attack the Big East right now,’ George said.

Though the Orange faced its first Big East opponent in mid-February last season, the scheduling decision was made prior to the season by both Jensen and George, keeping with previous match arrangements already made by former head coach Mac Gifford.

Inexperience was a factor in sophomore walk-on Chelsea Jones’ first Big East match, in which she lost against West Virginia’s fifth seed. The level of pressure is higher in conference matches because every win or loss affects the team’s playoff hopes, Jones said.

But inexperience won’t be a factor for this team, as the incoming players have all experienced pressure situations at individual tournaments. And although the freshmen will play their first matches without Jensen’s on-court expertise, their individual experiences and off-season conditioning puts the team in a comfortable situation, George said.

‘They are young, but they’ve had very extensive junior careers,’ George said. ‘Yes, it’s definitely different on the collegiate level, and it’ll be interesting to see how they will respond to their first matches here.’

Published on January 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm