Last Wednesday, the Washington women’s tennis team put forth its best hope for an All-American candidate in freshman Venise Chan at the 2008 NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

Although Chan entered the tournament at No. 37 in the nation, with a record of 21-9, the draw didn’t favor her. The bracket determined her first-round opponent to be No. 24 Reka Zsilinszka of Duke, who was 37-5 at the beginning of the tournament.

Even with a formidable opponent ahead of her, Chan has been successful against ranked opponents in the past, including last year’s NCAA Champion, Susie Babos of California.

Things weren’t so fortunate this time around for Chan. She got off to a rough start against Zsilinszka, dropping the first set 6-2.

Playing well defensively proved to be the best offense for Zsilinszka ,as she was lobbing frequently from the baseline and earning her points from Chan’s unforced errors.

“I wasn’t really nervous, but I just didn’t play very well,” Chan said. “I made a lot of mistakes that I shouldn’t have made.”

Chan was able to come back and make the match more competitive in the second set. She kept the game score even up to 5-5 but was broken in the next game to be down 6-5. Zsilinszka had to save a few break points of her own during the next game, but eventually she held serve to win the second set 7-5 and the match.

“Her game was consistent and defensive … and I’m not used to it,” Chan added. “If I played well, I think I should have beat her.”

Although Zsilinszka won her next match, she lost the following one against Lenka Broosova of Baylor 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

While Chan’s loss marked the official end to the women’s tennis season, it was a campaign full of highlights and was the most successful postseason run since 2005.

Chan gave encouraging remarks for next season as well.

“I think with our team, we’re only going to get better and better next season,” she said.