Last season was outstanding for the University of Evansville tennis program, and the Aces hope the momentum continues in the upcoming spring season. After going 18-9 last spring, UE opens the season on Friday, Jan. 25 with a match against Austin Peay State University at 6:00 at Evansville's Tri-State Athletic Club.
The University of Evansville tennis program keeps moving upward with Head Coach Steve Brockriede and his special assistant coach, John Stanley, now Director of Athletics at the University of Evansville. The bad news is that two of the most successful players at Evansville in recent years have graduated, but the good news is that five other solid players return this spring and they are being joined by four newcomers.
"We lost some outstanding players to graduation, but we return a solid nucleus and we have some strong players joining our program," Coach Brockriede says. "Our expectations have grown, and that's the sign of a good team."
The two who led the way in 2006-07 were MVC All-Conference Brittany Brown and MVC Scholar-Athlete Beth Peyton. Together, they combined for 27 doubles wins in their senior year, which shattered the previous school record of 23 wins in one season. Beth also departed with UE’s all-time record for doubles victories. Brittany recorded 24 singles wins, the fourth most in UE history.
There’s another new name in the UE records book that is still on the squad–junior Lisa Kawamoto, who played number three singles and number two doubles, and ended the season with 42 combined victories that tied her for fifth place on the Aces’ all-time list.
Sara Wilhoite is the lone senior on the 2008 squad, and is looking forward to finishing strong. She produced an outstanding 18-9 singles record and 15-10 doubles record as a junior Sara went 4-1 at number four singles and 14-8 at number five. She played all 25 of the doubles matches with Kawamoto at number two.
Another junior, Allie Cox, started the season at number five singles and moved up to number four. She finished strong in the spring by winning three of her last four matches, including Missouri Valley Conference wins over Bradley and Creighton. Cox finished the spring 10-8 at number three doubles, pairing up with Stephanie Millis early in the season. Millis ended up with a 13-12 singles record in the spring at number six. She also posted an 8-5 record at number three doubles with Cox.
Sophomore Susan Elliott has recovered from injuries that slowed her in 2007. She did play number three doubles in the spring with Cox, Millis and Jamie Petty, who graduated last December.
Going into their first spring season at UE are freshmen Pin Sorensen and Kate Chybowski, who played well last fall, and freshmen Payal Sharma and Riette Kotze, who joined the team after Christmas. Chybowski won the Flight B title with four wins in the Aces Fall Classic, and later reached the semifinals of the MVC fall tournament. Sorensen won two individual and two doubles matches at the Aces Fall Classic to begin her collegiate career. Sharma is expected to redshirt this spring in order to come back to full strength from an injury, and Kotze will give the Aces immediate support in singles and doubles.
With those five veterans and the newcomers, it looks like the Aces will be moving upward again in 2008.
