2007 Horizon League Men's & Women's Tennis Prospectus
Jan. 24, 2007
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Change is in the air as the 2007 Horizon League men's and women's tennis season gets underway this week. Though the familiar faces from (b>Butler University and the University of Illinois at Chicago still reign as defending champions, several key newcomers look to lead their teams to the top of the League standings.
The Butler men, winners of the last five Horizon League titles, head into the spring with a solid core of returning players, including three-time All-League selection James Low and fellow seniors Evan West and Scott Newmark. The Bulldogs also boast a talented freshman class, highlighted by Ben Raynauld and Sandy Berry. The duo combined for seven singles wins this fall plus nine more at doubles, including the Flight A title at the Ball State Invitational for Raynauld and partner Low.
Standing in between Coach Jason Suscha's team and another piece of Horizon League hardware are five teams hungry for their chance at the title.
The UIC men, runners-up in the last two championship title matches, will rely on a combination of experience and youth this season as the Flames will be led by returnees Eric Fey and Adriano Liccardo, plus newcomers Sebastian Lystad and Sam Sweeney. Fey, who scored the Flames' only point in last year's 4-1 championship defeat, recorded three wins this fall, while Liccardo and Sweeney earned flight titles in the Bradley Invitational and Windy City Invitational, respectively. Not to be outdone, Lystad earned a bid into the main draw at the ITA Midwest Regionals.
Freshmen Ryan Hamning and Phil Orno hope to push Cleveland State University to the top of the standings this year, stating their case with 23 combined singles wins in a strong fall campaign. Sophomore Rob West returned this fall for the Vikings after a successful 2006 season, promptly claming the No. 6 singles flight at the St. Bonaventure Invitational.
Player of the Year Tim Prudlow of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay will lead the Phoenix this fall as the team prepares to improve on its fourth-place showing last year. Prudlow and Second Team All-League selection Mark Goldin paced an experienced team while freshman Matt Clegg also provided the League competition with a glimpse of things to come as he earned two titles at the Valparaiso Fall Invitational, one for Flight C singles and another in Flight C doubles with partner Eric Plaushines.
Wright State University head coach Walt Triplett has produced two straight Horizon League Newcomer of the Year honorees, and with the outstanding fall play of transfer Tony Teufel, the Raiders may be on their way to a third straight award. Teufel led the team with four singles wins and a 6-1 mark at doubles in a short fall season. Teufel also entered the ITA Midwest Regionals as the 13th overall seed. Lance Koetter and Nick Camilleri, both previous Newcomers of the Year and All-League honorees, also started the year in a strong fashion, with Koetter earning three wins at singles and Camilleri joining with Teufel to claim the Flight A doubles title at the Valparaiso Fall Invitational.
Youngstown State University rounds out the men's field and will rely on the leadership of junior and Second Team All-League selection Scott Kathary and seniors Tom Barth and Brian Meek. The trio combined for five wins this fall. Brother duo Jason and Ryan Trapp also returned this fall for the Penguins, claiming a Flight B doubles title at Valparaiso.
In another sign of changes to come, Valparaiso University will join the Horizon League in July 2007. The Crusader men finished second in the Mid-Continent Conference last season, the highest-ever finish for the program. Head Coach Jim Daugherty has won Mid-Con Coach of the Year honors three times during his long tenure at Valpo (1988, 1999, 2002). The Crusaders are led by senior and 2006 Mid-Con Player of the Year Nick Kooyers, who already this season has defeated opponents from future League foes Butler and Youngstown State.
On the women's side, seven teams come into the 2007 spring season with one main goal- to put an end to the UIC streak of 10 consecutive Horizon League titles. The Flames, under the guidance of head coach Shannon Tully, have made eight straight appearances in the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship.
Ready to defend their crown, the Flames return three from last year's squad, including First Team All-Leaguer Callan Smith, senior Christina Oum and junior Grace Gill-Morlis. Smith, along with junior transfer Lubica Nadasska, made a run to the quarterfinals of the doubles main draw at this fall's ITA Midwest Regionals, defeating opponents from Indiana, Ohio State and Northwestern. In addition, Gill-Morlis opened her season with the Flight 3 title at the Bowling Green Invitational. The true test for the Flames this season will be the performance of freshmen Jenna Reisch, Ulrikke von Ubisch and Amy Jellish, who all face the daunting task of replacing graduates Iris Jaklin, Molly Smith and Corey Steven.
For Butler, which has finished in the runner-up position to UIC in seven of those 10 championship matches, there is hope that 2007 is the year the Bulldogs finally break through. Two-time Second Team All-League honoree Michelle Hawes and newcomer Molly Casperson highlighted the fall season, with the duo earning a victory in their first-round doubles match at the ITA Regionals. Casperson also advanced to the Flight A championship of the Ball State Invitational. Casperson's older sister, Chelsey, one of three returners to the Butler squad, advanced to a doubles championship round of her own, joining with freshman Becky Jenkins at the Evansville Aces Invitational.
Cleveland State takes to the courts this spring looking to improve upon last year's school-record 18 match wins. The Vikings are led by senior and 2005 Player of the Year Sarah Galon, who notched a team-high eight singles wins and eight doubles wins this fall. Junior Jenn Myers, who led the team with 23 wins last year, returns to action this spring after missing the entire fall slate following her third elbow surgery in the last two years.
The first player in League history to earn the Horizon League Women's Tennis Newcomer and Player of the Year honors in the same season returns to lead the University of Detroit Mercy this spring. Sophomore Annie Moore, who led the the League in victories (26) last year, earned seven singles wins, plus eight doubles victories with rookie partner Svetlana Flankova. Flankova also found success at singles, claiming the Flight 2 title at the IPFW Mastadon Invitational and piling up a team-high 11 wins.
Newcomers are also making a big impact at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where freshman Kari Kastenholz has claimed the No. 1 singles spot after picking up five wins this fall and qualifying for the ITA Regional tournament in both singles and doubles. Last season, the Panthers were led by returner Traci Litscher, who picked up seven wins combined from the top three spots in the line-up in 2006. This fall, Litscher climbed to the title match of the Chicago State Invitational before falling to Ade Omodele-Lucien of the University of Chicago.
Senior Heather Harding of UW-Green Bay also enjoyed success against Chicago State this year, claiming two victories in a dual match September 23. Harding, who won a total of five singles matches this fall, will lead the Phoenix as they look to rebound from last season's 1-6 performance in League play. Joining Harding in the effort will be sophomore Aschley Jurgella, who joined Harding as the only Phoenix representatives at the ITA Regionals. Jurgella finished the fall with two singles wins.
Wright State enters the spring season having participated in only two team tournament events, one at Ball State and another at Miami (Ohio). The lack of fall play shouldn't matter, however, as the Raiders return two of the top players in the Horizon League in senior All-League honorees Tiffani Foster and Jessica Lee. Last season, the duo combined for 34 singles wins and only two losses in Horizon League play. Joining Coach Walt Triplett's squad are freshman Kelsey Miles and Jackie Garrett, who earned her first collegiate victory on Oct. 7 with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Paige Ashby of Eastern Kentucky.
Also claiming her first collegiate win this fall was Youngstown State newcomer Tanisha Welch, who defeated CSU's Christine Vogelgsang in the first round of the No. 5 flight at the Bowling Green Invitational to open the season. Welch and fellow newcomer Kelly Culbertson join a seasoned squad featuring Second Team All-League selection Gina Peretti and junior Emily Thayer, who spent much of last season at the No. 1 singles position. The Penguins will begin the spring at Toledo on January 27, their tenth season under head coach Michele Grim.
The Valparaiso women enter their final season of Mid-Con play in search of a fourth-consecutive regular season and third-straight NCAA tournament berth. The Crusaders are led by seniors Rachel Janssen and Kate Evangelist, both First Team All-Mid-Con selections last season. This fall, Janssen earned six singles victories and two Mid-Con Athlete of the Week honors, while Evangelist notched three wins. Valpo also welcomes first-year head coach Michelle Mahoney, who replaced three-time Mid-Con Coach of the Year Tim Maluga in December. She and assistant Sarah Hoffman will be at the helm as the Crusaders look to extend their 30-match conference regular-season winning streak when Mid-Con play begins this spring.
The 2007 Horizon League Men's and Women's Tennis Championships will be held April 28-29 at North Central High School in Indianapolis.
