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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 1, 2016

Tina Samara

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Women's Tennis Head Coach, Tina Samara is here. We will have some opening comments and take questions.

COACH SAMARA: Hey, everyone. First of all, I want to say how lucky I am to be at a university that recognizes the importance of trying to bring this tournament back. For my sport, it is one of the most prestigious events of the year, and as Brian said, we hosted it in the past but it's taken a hiatus, and we're very happy to have it back.

For some of you, you might not know how the format works, just to give you an idea, it's the top-15 teams in the nation plus the host institution, which, of course, is us. They take the top-75 programs around the country; they have pods of four all over the United States to play off and then winners of each pod then make the tournament.

So this year we have the NCAA Champion, Vanderbilt returning and like Brian said, 7 of the top-10 teams in the country, so a pretty big event and arguably the toughest event to get into in college tennis, so really looking forward to having it.

Q. How did the tournament get back here?
COACH SAMARA: You go through a bidding process, but we're very fortunate. Nielsen Tennis Center has 12 indoor courts, which is pretty rare. So the way the tournament is run, it's actually perfect to host this kind of event with 12 courts in one place.

I know so many of the coaches, because they coached when I played, and then a lot of them are my friends that played and now are coaches, and I know that all the feedback I've gotten, everyone was really excited that we were going to bid and try to get it back in Madison, so it is a bidding process, but there aren't many places that can really host it to begin with.

Q. Will you be able to coach, or will you be running around trying to help the event go smoothly?
COACH SAMARA: Fortunately I get to coach. That would be a disaster if I had to run it.

Q. How do you think your team is going to stack up with some of the best program in the country?
COACH SAMARA: That's a great question. I don't think we're as far way as it might look on paper. As I've said in various interviews, the differences between a team like ours and a team like Vanderbilt are very little, but the little things make a big difference in the result.

I'm hoping, at the very least, my players will get to see that this week, regardless of the results, winning or losing but seeing that it wasn't huge differences in oh, that girl can do things I can't do. It's really very similar to golf where it's like course management. We just have to get better at managing our decisions and taking care of the little things a little bit better. But I think there are some teams in there we could give them a run for their money.

Q. What's it been like coaching Lauren Chypyha, and what type of player is she for those that have never seen her play and maybe should give her a chance this weekend?
COACH SAMARA: Yeah, Lauren is as good as she is because she was as difficult as she was when I got here. She tested me pretty hard early on, but I think most top players, good, successful players do that. They're stubborn, and it's part of what makes them a great player. But she just -- she is exactly what a coach wants; she works extremely hard. And I can't turn every player into a great player, but I can take someone who works hard, and I know I can make 'em better, and I think that's the example with Lauren.

Credit goes to her, but going from a 500 record her freshman year to coming off a weekend where she beat the No. 34 player in the country, I'm not surprised, but I think it's really just about all the work she has put in.

Q. I understand you have a relationship with this championship in particular from your playing days. Can you elaborate on that story?
COACH SAMARA: Yeah, I know Nielsen Tennis Center very well, spent a lot of hours in it in '93, '4 and '5 when I played for Georgia. The facility hasn't changed very much. It's a beautiful, brick building that I have a lot of memories and long days in from those playing days. We were fortunate to do very well, and I think Madison itself is just something I remember very well.

I was fortunate to do a lot of neat things in college, but Madison always was a place I remembered because of the snow and, you know, tennis is typically an outdoor sport in the warmer climates, NCAAs are always in places like Georgia and I think this tournament was very special for -- especially teams coming from the warmer -- like Georgia and Florida, kids who hadn't seen snow, so I'm really hoping -- I know no one else wants it, but I kinda want snow tomorrow, as long as their flights get in, because I just think that's what makes this tournament really unique. Yeah, I've had some good memories in that building, hopefully I can have some as a coach.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach? Thanks, Tina.

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