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December 1, 2002

2008-09 Season - 2002-03 WOMEN'S TENNIS REVIEW

Vikings take fourth in College Conference of Illinois &

Wisconsin tournament; Season ends with 11-4 overall record & 3-3 mark in the CCIW; Kristen Pence finishes with 19-2 singles record

Led by the individual second place finish at number two single by Kristen Pence (Rochelle HS, Rochelle, IL) and the runner-up performance of number two doubles team Allison McAndrews (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, IA) and Christina Seaba (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, IA), the Augustana Vikings women's tennis team placed fourth in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin

The CCIW tournament was held on October 18-19 at the Evergreen Tennis Club in Bloomington, Illinois and the Vikings of head coach Todd Creal scored 42 points to place fourth behind Carthage (77), Wheaton (51) and Illinois Wesleyan (42). Behind Augustana were North Central (14), Elmhurst (5), Millikin 4 and North Park 1. The second place finish in the tournament came after the Vikings put together an 11-4 overall dual meet record and a 3-3 mark in the CCIW. The Blue & Gold could have had one more victory in both overall and league play but a dual meet with North Park, late in the year, was cancelled and ruled no contest.

Pence led the Vikings all season long and she would finish the year with a superb 19-2 overall record. The 19 victories put her just shy of making the single season top 10 list for wins. She will probably climb into the top 10 this spring, depending on how many matches she competes in. Her 19-2 record is a winning percentage of .904 and that is the fourth highest single season mark in school history. She trails the .957 (22-1) of Sarah Ainsworth in 1993-94, the .944 (17-1) of Katy Kozlowski in 1996-97 and the .933 (14-1) of Pearl McLeod in 1984-85.

Heading into the CCIW tournament, Pence had earned the number one seed at number two singles but she dropped a 6-0; 7-6 decision in the final to Sara Cahoon of Carthage, the number two seed. She beat Laura Dahl of North Park 6-0; 6-0 in the first round and then handled Deborah Bartell of Illinois Wesleyan 6-1; 6-0 in the semi-final.

Freshman Courtney Ford (Ottawa Township HS, Ottawa, IL) had the other top singles finish in the CCIW tournament with a third at number five singles. Ford, who finished the season with a 14-4 overall record, beat Marie Black of North Park 6-0; 6-0 in the first round before losing to Erin Hoekstra of Wheaton 6-0; 7-5 in the semi-finals. She clawed her way back through the playback bracket, eventually beating Andrea Bulkley of Illinois Wesleyan 8-0 for third place.

Allison McAndrews (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, IA) took fourth at number three singles as did Brijan Knaap (Urbana HS, Urbana, IL) at number four. McAndrews finished the season 11-10 overall while Knaap was 11-7.

McAndrews and Christina Seaba (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, IA) put together a tremendous performance at number two doubles, making it all the way to the championship match before falling. Seeded fourth, McAndrews and Seaba beat Palmer and Keefe of North Park 8-0 in the first round before knocking off the number one seed - Deborah Bartell and Erika Herrin of Illinois Wesleyan - by a score of 8-6 in the semi-finals. In the finals the team of Christine Hamm and Kristine Meulendyke beat Seaba and McAndrews 8-1.  Seaba and McAndrews finished the year with a 10-6 record in doubles.

The number one doubles team of Pence and Ford placed third, beating Arnold and Irwin of Illinois Wesleyan 8-6 in the third place match to finish the year 14-5.

At one point this season the Vikings were 4-0 and then proceeded to lose four of their next five matches to fall to 5-4. After losing to Wheaton on September 21 to go to 5-4, Augustana won six straight dual matches to end the season with an 11-4 overall record. The Blue & Gold placed fourth at the Warhawk Invitational on September 7, scoring 21 points in the eight team meet.

This is the 10^th consecutive winning season for Augustana women's tennis, dating back to an 11-11 season in 1992-93 during Larry Flaherty's first year as head coach. The last losing season was actually 12 years ago when the Vikings went 10-12 during the 1991-92 season. Augustana has recorded at least 10 victories in 15 of the last 16 seasons.

2002 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN

WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 18-19, 2002

Bloomington, Illinois

Evergreen Racquet Club

CCIW PLACEWINNERS

2002 CCIW ALL CONFERENCE TEAM

CCIW PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kelly Mikkila, Carthage

CCIW MVP: Sara Cahoon, Carthage

COACH OF THE YEAR: Brady Lindsley, Carthage