EVANSVILLE, Ind.—First-year head tennis coach Christine Bader will welcome six returning players and two newcomers this season when the University of Evansville tennis team reports for its first practice on September 1.

“I am excited to get everyone here and get the ball rolling for the season,” said Bader. “The fall season is a good time to get in a groove and to work on improving each player’s game in order to make the team stronger as a whole.”

The Aces will be led by seniors Allie Cox, Lisa Kawamoto, and Stephanie Millis. Cox and Kawamoto were among the team’s leaders in singles victories with 10 each. Kawamoto and Millis also had a strong showing as doubles partners, finishing with a 5-2 mark. Millis was chosen as a 2007 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete. With five more singles wins, Kawamoto will break into the top 10 at UE for career singles victories.

The Aces will look to doubles partners Kate Chybowski and Pin Sorensen to repeat their on-court success. The duo finished 11-9 at No. 1 doubles last season in their freshman season. Individually, the two led the team in singles wins with Chybowski tallying 19 wins and Sorensen 11. For her efforts, Chybowski received MVC Player Of The Week honors and was named to the MVC All-Select team. Payal Sharma will return this season after sitting out last season to recover from an injury.

The team will have two new faces this year with the additions of Theadora Kotsiou and Ashton Schwerin. Kotsiou, a native of Adelaide, Australia, was ranked in the Top 10 in the state of Southern Australia during her junior tennis career and helped lead Marryatville High School to “Team of the Year” honors as given by the Messenger Youth Sports Awards in 2004 and 2005. Schwerin is no stranger to the MVC, coming to Evansville after playing her freshman season at Northern Iowa. The Madison, Wis. native was a four-year starter at No. 1 singles in high school and was ranked No. 3 in the state of Wisconsin during her senior year.

The Aces will host the annual Aces Fall Classic Sept. 26-27 to kick off the season. They will participate in the IPFW Fall Invitational in early October before the MVC Individual Championships from Oct. 10-12 in Des Moines, Iowa. Bader is also hoping to take a couple players to the ITA Midwest Regional, which will be held at Michigan State this year. Bader graduated from Michigan State in May where she played No. 1 singles and was named an All-Big Ten player before taking the head coaching position at Evansville in June.

“One of the best advantages of this team is that the girls are all so close,” says Bader. “That is a great base to build up support and confidence.”