Published: October 11, 2008 09:16 pm            

Fadina takes BSC to new level

BLUEFIELD — She has a name that just rolls off your tongue. She’s got a game that is making a name for Bluefield State tennis.

Yelena Fadina, a Bluefield State sophomore, has been called the best women’s tennis player in the school’s history. That, by none other than BSC tennis coach Louie Belt.

“She was a good Division I player, but she’s our very best player,” Belt said. “She’s been everything I hoped she would be when she came here.”

Fadina, a transfer from Winthrop, is doing her best to back up his words.

“I didn’t really have a chance to show something at Winthrop so here I have this possibility,” said Fadina, a junior in terms of tennis eligibility, majoring in business administration. “I’m going to try to prove that I am the best and maybe somebody will come next year, but until then I am going to do my best.”

A native of Almaty, the largest city in the Russian country of Kazakhstan, Fadina first arrived in America in the spring of 2007, playing for Big South Conference member Winthrop in Rock Hill, S.C.

“I think I did good, not the best, but I was No. 3 or 4 on the team, and I won all my conference matches,” said Fadina, who was relegated to just doubles last spring.

After that semester ended, Fadina learned that her scholarship and those of two male players were being pulled. One, Polish import Marcin Majchrzak, also transferred to Bluefield State and will play for the men’s team in the spring.

Fadina started looking for another school, not only to play tennis, but also to fulfill her educational goals, the reason for her voyage to America to begin with.

“I was just ready because the level of study at the universities back home is not real good now so there was just one way to go,” said the 21-year-old Fadina. “I was assuming it couldn’t be worse. I knew I could get a better education than I could in Kazakhstan.”

Belt, in his second season trying to resurrect the long-suffering Bluefield State tennis program, had a connection at Winthrop. After tinkering with going to Queens College in Charlotte, N.C., Fadina arrived in Bluefield, sight unseen.

It took little time for Fadina to become a threat for the Blues on the court.

“Once she came here and started hitting the ball, I was like, ‘Yeah, she’s pretty good,’” Belt said. “I had an idea she could do pretty well.”

For Fadina, tennis is fun again.

“I enjoy it more here because there is not as much pressure as there was at the other university,” Fadina said. “Louie gets me to do what I can do, and he knows I’m trying too. I just try to go out there and do my best.”

•••

Fadina started playing tennis only because the gymnastics program in her native city was filled. However, with Fadina’s height that approaches 6-foot, tennis may have been a better fit.

“It really wasn’t that important what sport or how, I just wanted to get into sports, so maybe it was for the better,” Fadina said. “I don’t think I would do better in gymnastics.”

After two years spent mainly getting into tennis shape, Fadina started to play, and played well, using her tricky serves, solid backhand and volleying skills to become one of her country’s best players.

“I just liked to be with the other kids,” said Fadina, who is still working on developing a strong forehand delivery. “Then when we started playing competitions and tournaments, I just liked it.”

A lot. Fadina rose to No. 1 in Kazakhstan in the under-16 age group, and was top five in under-18s. Her thoughts turned to playing tennis for a living.

“When I was playing juniors and watching all this tennis on TV, of course I wanted to be a professional,” Fadina said. “When I grew up a little bit more, I started to understand how much money that it costs and if it’s really possible to do or I should just concentrate on studying.”

Much like tennis in America, the sport of love, net and aces has struggled to maintain popularity in Kazakhstan.

“When I started playing tennis it was really big, but now the federation is really not doing good,” said Fadina, who also competed in western Europe and Africa. “It doesn’t help the players at all, maybe that’s why I didn’t continue to play like for sectionals, just because there was no help.”

She got help to make it to America. A friend notified the Winthrop coach of her interest. It wasn’t long before she was airborne. The biggest obstacle was the language.

“When I got here it was really hard, in the first months I didn’t speak at all,” said Fadina, who found a mentor at Winthrop that helped with her adjustment to a new culture. “It was just listening, and then it was like it just came because I was around people that speak English so that’s why I wanted to come too because there was really just one way to really learn this language.”

Coming to America from aboard is nothing new in college tennis. Most teams, especially at the higher levels, are filled with foreign athletes.

“Winthrop was Division I and a lot of people wanted to get onto the team so, of course, there was going to be more pressure,” Fadina said. “All of them were foreign players and there was a lot of competition in the team just to get a spot.”

When that spot was taken, Fadina looked for a new spot. She’s found a different life at Bluefield State, but it’s one she enjoys.

“It is kind of smaller and the life on campus is different,” Fadina said. “I used to always be around students, and something was going on on campus, and here it is kind of closed. Everybody is at home and then school and that is it.”

That’s nothing new for Fadina.

“It’s what I like, at home it’s what we had,” she said. “We had school and home and that’s it. When they got here, it was really student life, college life, and now I come back (to this), but still I’m getting used to it.”

•••

Fadina has posted a 5-2 mark for the Lady Blues, and has combined with, among others, Lauren Chisholm to perform well in doubles.

“I lost one match, I guess the girl was really better, and the other match she had just a little bit more legs,” Fadina said. “(The competition is) like in the middle, the level at Winthrop, it’s not that good, but at the same time, it is still better than here.

“I don’t think it’s Bluefield, I think it’s just differences in divisions. It was going to be different in practices and in the results.”

Belt is trying to revive a program that has long been a cellar-dwellar in the WVIAC. He made progress with the men’s team in the spring, with Andy Sarver and Dusan Zivkovic becoming the Blues’ first-ever all-conference selections. Belt thinks Fadina will do the same for the women.

“I think she will automatically make all-conference, there’s no way she’s not one of the 10 best,” Belt said. “She’s the best player we’ve had. That would be good for her, and it could have propel us to more success in the future.”

Even though it hasn’t been as successful as Fadina would have liked, the season isn’t over yet. She also doesn’t mind the talk that surrounds her success at Bluefield State.

“It doesn’t scare me. I guess it’s good for the university and for me too, Fadina said. “I just want to win all my games, but since I didn’t do that, for now I’m just going to try not to lose any more.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.