These doubles players are garnering national attention and ‘really put Temple tennis on the map’

When Temple tennis coach Steve Mauro goes recruiting, he looks for different qualities in each player — one can glean a lot from film, but he’s interested in a player’s background, too.

This season, personality traits led to a women’s duo clicking on and off the court — and being ranked 25th in the nation in the most recent ITA poll.

After spending three seasons at Stony Brook, Jamie Wei transferred to Temple in 2021 to use her final two years of NCAA eligibility, joining her sister Evie. The next offseason, Mauro came across Maiko Uchijima, the sister of Japanese professional Moyuka Uchijima and a two-time doubles national champion in high school.

“[Uchijima] knows the game very well,” Mauro said. “She played a lot of doubles in high school, which is not very popular. … So she knew the game and she was very effective also up at the net. They really complemented one another.”

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The duo peaked at No. 5 in the nation this season.

“There are roughly 200 Division I programs out there,” Mauro said. “Each program has at least three doubles teams. So, to reach that level was really quite an accomplishment.”

But Temple’s best duo wasn’t paired right away.

In the preseason, Mauro paired Wei and Uchijima with different partners to see how they jelled with the rest of their teammates. Eventually, he and assistant coach Frederika Girsang decided to pair the two, assembling the duo that helped lead Temple to a 17-5 record. Wei has a 17-9 career doubles record when she doesn’t team with Uchijima and a 14-1 record with the freshman.

“The first couple of weeks, I was actually playing with another girl,” Wei said. “After one match, [Mauro] put us together, and then we just clicked. We didn’t really practice together before or anything. It was just how we played, our personality. It just clicked.

“I’m super intense when I play. But having her on my side, it’s like a calmness next to me. … When I’m placing singles, I get so mad at myself, and then it doesn’t go away. But when I’m playing with her, I look at her, she smiles, and then I feel like, ‘OK, it’s fine. Next one.’”

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Mauro saw the potential for that chemistry when he thought about Wei and Uchijima’s families.

He believed that Wei, whose father is a Taiwanese navy general, had a personality that would mesh with that of Uchijima, whose sister, Moyuka, had an impact on her — and he was right.

Their relationship didn’t stay solely on the court, either.

Because of conflicting schedules, Uchijima doesn’t get to speak to her sister often. However, Wei and her sister, Evie, have become closer to Uchijima as the season progressed.

“I feel she’s my sister,” Uchijima said. “I have an older sister, but it’s different. It was really comfortable to talk, and stuff like that.”

Uchijima credits Wei for much of her freshman development.

She teamed with Evie for one match, which the pair lost. As a singles competitor, though, Uchijima was 7-1 on the season, setting a hard standard to top in each of her next three seasons.

“There’s definitely room for improvement,” Mauro said. “I think she’s going to keep improving. A lot of times, people come into college tennis, and their level kind of remains the same. But she’s a hard worker. She comes from a tennis background.”

Now, the two aim to qualify for the NCAA Tournament as Wei prepares to end her college career, and Uchijima’s career evolves into one that Wei believes will be great. The team selections for the women’s championship will be announced Monday evening. The individual selections will be revealed Tuesday in a press release on NCAA.com. The championship is May 17-27 in Orlando.

“They really put Temple tennis on the map,” Mauro said of the duo. “I get calls and emails and texts from coaches all around the country, congratulating me on them and what a great job they’ve done. To have that success is quite remarkable.”