Women’s tennis travels to Florida

By Justin Sucher

(Chyn Wey Lee / Western Herald) Senior Ashley Moccia gets set for a return shot to Youngstown State opponent Tanisha Welch at the Broncos doubleheader at home last weekend. Moccia took the win in both singles and doubles, contributing to WMU’s 7-0 and 7-0 sweep.

Western Herald

Following the sweep of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Youngstown State University, the Western Michigan University women’s tennis team will escape the frigid temperatures and travel to Gainesville, Fla. for the opening round of the 2009 National Team Indoor Tournament.

The No. 54 ranked Broncos (3-1) will face the University of South Alabama, the No. 56 team in the country, on Saturday. The Jaguars (1-0) are coming fresh off a victory over the University of New Orleans.
“We must play steady tennis,” said head coach Betsy Kuhle.  “The transition from indoor tennis to outdoor tennis is going to be critical for us to be successful.”

Senior Kerstin Pahl will square off against senior Sylvanie Spangenberg at No. 1 singles.  Spangenberg competed at both the fourth and fifth spots in 2008 for the Jaguars. Emily Dudzik will face Michaela Bibcova at No. 2 singles and Jenny Nalepa will play Erica Krisan at the three spot.

This will not be the first meeting between the two schools. In 2007, the Broncos defeated the Jaguars, 5-2, at the Minneapolis Court Classic. Only three Broncos, Kerstin Pahl, Ashley Moccia and Emily Dudzik, were members of that 2007 squad.

“They’ve got a few players that we saw a couple years ago, but they have some new faces just like us,” said Kuhle.
The Brown and Gold brought in four freshmen this year to complete the roster. Rachel Denny, April Kerr, Jenny Nalepa and Maria Nivia are all in their first year on the squad.

“The older girls are going to be able to adjust quicker than the freshmen will,” Kuhle said.

The Broncos’ next opponent in the tournament will be determined by the result of the match between the University of Florida and Oklahoma State University. The seventh-ranked UF Gators (2-0) feature Marrit Boonstra, Megan Alexander and Anastasia Revzina, all of which are ranked in the top 100 nationwide. Boonstra and Alexander also form the No. 18 doubles team in the nation. The No. 69 Oklahoma State Cowgirls have yet to begin their 2009 campaign. The Cowgirls boast Nataliya Shatkovskaya, the No. 27 ranked singles player in the Central region.

“We’d love the chance to play [Florida],” said Kuhle. “They’ve got beautiful facilities and draw a huge crowd, but we’ve got to play steady tennis and beat South Alabama first.”

Following the Broncos’ voyage to Florida, the team will return to Kalamazoo for a nine-match home stand, beginning with Purdue University on Feb. 6.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Jan 29 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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