VU roars into spring

Don’t look for many of Vanderbilt’s spring sports programs among the rank and file during the coming months. Not if the preseason rankings are an accurate indicator, that is.

Most of VU’s teams on the verge of opening their seasons have shown up in the preseason polls for their respective sports.

Of those that have received such national attention, the bowling team was paid the ultimate complement. The bowlers, who in 2007 won the university’s first national championship, got 18 of 20 first-place votes and topped the National Tenpins Coaches Association rankings.

“Last year we were ranked No. 1 to start the year and I don’t think we handled it too well,” head coach John Williamson said. “We did win a national championship, but our program is still relatively new to the sport.

“I think they were trying to prove that they belonged with that moniker, and they put a lot of pressure on themselves.”

Williamson’s team opens the season this weekend at a tournament hosted by Arkansas Little Rock. The field will include some of the top programs from the Central Region, opponents the Commodores did not face during the fall when they swept three events — all in the Northeast — and compiled a nation’s best 36-5 record.

“We’ve talked about only worrying about the things we can control, and one thing we can’t control is what people think about us,” Williamson said. “I guess I’ll know better after this weekend whether I like being ranked No. 1 again or not.”

The women’s tennis team was No. 12 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association top 25, which was released Jan. 7. That squad has made the final 16 of the NCAA tournament in 11 straight seasons and finished 2008 ranked 10th, the fifth top 10 finish of coach Geoff McDonald’s 14-year tenure.

The women’s golf team was 12th in the rankings compiled by Golf World and the National Golf Coaches association and seventh in Golf

Digest’s poll.

Likewise, the lacrosse team was ranked 12th by Lacrosse Magazine, one spot below its final 2008 ranking.

The men’s tennis team narrowly missed the top 25 but was 27th — its highest preseason ranking since 2005 and one below its spot in the final 2008 poll.

Conspicuous by its absence from the leading national rankings was VU’s baseball team, which was not among the 35 teams in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason poll released earlier this week. That program was among others receiving votes after being 25th in the final 2008 poll.

The new rankings included 13 teams that were unranked at the end of last season, led by No. 11 Louisville.

“I don’t know how much it matters either way,” baseball coach Tim Corbin said. “When you are ranked, the only people you talk about it with are your recruits. You certainly don’t bring it up to your team. When you aren’t ranked, you don’t mention it to recruits and but you do bring it up with your players and discuss the reasons you’re not ranked.

“Of course, any coach would say that it only matters where you’re ranked at the end of the year, but the reality is that it affords us the opportunity to play without pressure at the start.”