The United States won the Davis Cup for the same reason that the Binghamton University women’s tennis team has had such a strong fall season ‘ a sense of team.

The entire U.S. tennis team, with the exception of Andy Roddick, played tennis in college. James Blake played for Harvard, while the Bryan brothers, Mike and Bob, played for Stanford. Through these experiences, they learned the importance of teamwork and showing school spirit, which they have brought to their travails as Davis Cup competitors.

‘All these other guys understand the team concept,’ Roddick told reporters. ‘The Bryans went to Stanford, so they’re big into it, and having played with each other forever, they get what it takes. James was the same way at Harvard. I’m probably the only guy who hadn’t experienced that team aspect, and I love it. I’m drawn to it. I used to watch my brother’s college matches and go nuts. I love the camaraderie.’

In a sport like tennis, where so much is centered around individual achievement, a sense of teamwork can be hard to find.

The Binghamton tennis team’s success ‘ they’ve reached the conference championship in two of the past three seasons ‘ is founded on that sense of teamwork. This fall the team won two flights at the Quinnipiac Invitational, 36 of 43 combined matches at the Binghamton and Bloomsburg Invitationals, and swept a dual match against Siena, 7-0.

‘Teamwork is very important to our success,’ said BU captain Gayathri Balasundar. ‘A lot of times spirit for the team can be a deciding factor in who wins or loses a match. We love to support other teams, even if they don’t come out and watch us. Win or lose, we are proud to be Bearcats.’

The Bearcats reiterate that point as a group. Balasundar makes a concerted effort to have the team represent Binghamton well by showing how much the players care about the school and one another. Even the freshmen are on board.

‘I like playing on the team because there is less pressure than playing individually and we are all really supportive of each other,’ said Anna Edelman, a freshman and the Bearcats’ No. 1 singles player.

Edelman has embodied the team and school spirit of the Binghamton women’s tennis team as much as anyone on the roster. With teammate Lauren Bates, she went to the men’s basketball home opener against Quinnipiac on Nov. 14, and they showed their pride in being Bearcats by painting their entire faces green and black.

Balasundar and teammate Danyelle Shapiro were also at the game with BU logos painted on their faces. The women held posters to cheer on starting guards Mike Gordon and Richard Forbes, and could be heard screaming ‘Moussa’ after Moussa Camara converted on his trademark 3-pointers from the corner.

‘I have a lot of school spirit, as you can see by going to the bubearcats.com Web site [where there is a picture of her and Bates with their face paint]. I go all out with the face paint and posters.’

Hopefully for the Bearcats, spirit and team camaraderie will lead them as far as it led the U.S. Davis Cup team ‘ to another America East title.