GREAT MIDWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
2014 Women’s Tennis Coaches’ Poll - Spring Preview
The 2013-14 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis season will be the G-MAC’s first season as an active NCAA Division II conference, and the field of competitive teams has expanded from its inaugural season in 2012-13.
Cedarville University returns as the defending G-MAC Champion, which featured only regular-season play in 2012-13. The 2013-14 season will see a field of six teams participating in a regular-season schedule, and a conference championship tournament, hosted by Cedarville University on April 25 and 26, 2014.
Cedarville was identified as the team to beat again in 2013-14, topping the conference preseason coaches’ poll, earning all the first place votes they were eligible to receive. The Lady Jackets edged conference newcomers Alderson Broaddus University and Davis and Elkins College, who had success last season in the final year of the WVIAC. Kentucky Wesleyan College, along with the Ursuline College and Central State University, round out the coaches’ poll.
G-MAC PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL
Rank School Points 2012-13
1. Cedarville University (5 First Place votes) 25 17-7
2. Alderson Broaddus University 19 0-11
3. Davis & Elkins College (1 First Place vote) 17 12-10
4. Kentucky Wesleyan College 15 2-10
5. Ursuline College 8 2-9
6. Central State University 6 0-10
NOTES FROM CAMPUS
Alderson Broaddus University: The Battlers are competing in their first full season as a NCAA DII women’s tennis program. ABU posted a 2-2 record during the fall segment of their 2013-14 schedule. Sophomore Stephanie Gertsakis will continue to anchor the team at #1 singles. She is surrounded by a solid freshman class including Veronica Mueller, Mireia Fabrega, and Jordyn Walker.
The Blue and Gold have won six of twelve doubles matches during the seasons campaign to this point, and are improving every day. Veronica Mueller, partnered with Walker, make up AB’s #1 doubles team. As a team, they have gone 3-1 in dual matches. Mueller has also compiled 3-1 record in dual matches at second singles.
Alderson Broaddus will play ten of their sixteen matches this spring away from home. Five of their six home matches will be played during an eight day span beginning March 29, starting with their first conference match of the season, hosting Ursuline College.
Cedarville University: The Lady Jackets, who are the defending Great Midwest Athletic Conference champions, return a solid nucleus with high hopes for this spring. Under Head Coach Dr. Dee Morris, the Lady Jackets produced a 17-7 record last season - the fourth-highest win total in school history. Cedarville also was the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Midwest Region runner-up in the 2013 campaign.
CU compiled a 6-3 mark playing this past fall and Coach Morris has optimistic expectations continuing into the spring schedule. “From what I’ve seen and from what I know of these young ladies, I think we should be as good or better than where we finished last year,” Morris declared. “We plan on competing very well in our non-conference slate and certainly in the G-MAC.”
G-MAC Player of the Year Courtney Heydt is one of three all-conference players back. The others are Lily Schuler and Maryssa Herbert. Freshman Lauren Jackson, who posted a 6-1 mark at #2 singles this fall, and junior Schuler, 3-4 at #1 singles in the fall, will battle it out for the #1 spot in 2014 with junior Heydt possibly sliding into the #3 position. Joy Dice, 5-2 at #4 singles during the fall, and Emma Rahn are the lone seniors on the squad.
The spring season begins with the annual Spring Break trip to Orlando, Florida where the Lady Jackets are slated to play five matches. The team begins the home portion of the schedule on March 25 against NCAA III Wittenberg. The squad will play three other non-conference matches versus Indiana Wesleyan, Walsh and Bethel IN.
Cedarville takes on the seven-match G-MAC schedule starting with a trip to Kentucky Wesleyan on March 28. The Lady Jackets will tangle twice with nearby Central State and host Kentucky Wesleyan on April 11. Other league matches will include Alderson Broaddus, Davis & Elkins and Ursuline
Central State University: The Marauders have yet to play a match in the 2013-14 season, taking the fall off to train and prepare for a 11-match spring schedule, of which eight are against G-MAC opponents. They start their schedule at home on March 15 against Davis & Elkins.
Last season, Central State went 0-4 in the G-MAC against Cedarville and Ursuline. They also went 0-10 on the season overall. In nine of the 10 matches overall, and three of the four conference matches, the Marauders were swept 9-0. The only match in which they scored a victory, was their 2-7 loss against Ursuline at home.
Davis & Elkins College: The Senators After finishing last year in 4th place in the WVIAC, which was the highest finish for the women's tennis team in 15 years in the conference. D&E women look to continue their success in their new home of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. We return a majority of our team from last year and added some new talent to help with chase for the conference championship.
Leading the Senators this year: #1 Singles and Doubles player Julia Hoehn from Germany who is a Junior this year. She was 1st team All-Conference last year in the WVIAC and has notable wins over ranked regional opponents in the Atlantic Region. She is also a part of the 2x All-Academic Team and a Scholar Athlete as well.
Another big part for our team is senior Natela Portshidze, who will play #2 singles and #1 doubles. She is a transfer from France and has come in to make an immediate impact for our team. This year she made it to the Semi-Finals of the backdraw of the ITA Regional Tournament in the fall and looks to build on her success in her last year here.
To round out the team we have Hali Michael and Rhiana Bruce Lyle from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Jala Hassan from Egypt and the twins Erika and Marlene Ridgway from Buckhannon, WV who will all play a big role in our first season in the GMAC.
Kentucky Wesleyan College: The Panthers have started the 2013-14 at 0-6, but scored at least one or two wins in four of the six matches. Coming off a season in which the team went 2-10 and didn’t have a win in the GLVC, Kentucky Wesleyan is looking to earn a few wins - especially in conference.
Last season KWC had two good battles with Ursuline, the only current G-MAC opponent from this years field, that they faced last season. In the first meeting in Owensboro, Ursuline edged out KWC 6-3, but fell 8-1 a couple weeks later on the road. They did have a meeting with Cedarville schedule, that was cancelled due to weather conditions.
The Panthers will start their spring schedule at the beginning of March, taking on Bellarmine and Saint Joseph’s on March 1-2. They will then travel to Hilton Head, South Carolina for spring break and play five matches in a span of six days. They return home for two more non-conference game before opening up the conference schedule by hosting Cedarville and Central State on March 28-29.
Danielle Hadler and Hannah Butcher have split time at #1 singles, with four different players taking the #2 singles spot in the six matches, led by Butcher. In singles, Hadler won her only #2 singles performance, and Emily McNeil is 2-0 at #5 singles. In doubles action, Butcher and Hadler are 2-2 at the #1 doubles.
Ursuline College: The Arrows team is small in stature with just five players on the roster, but three of those student-athletes are seniors who know what it takes to be successful in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
Senior Alex Leister, an All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference performer a season ago, returns and will take over the No. 1 spot. Last season, she finished with a team-high five wins (5-5) as she was 1-1 at second singles, 2-4 at third singles and 2-0 in the fourth slot. Of those five victories, four came against current conference schools as she went 2-0 against opponents from Central State and Kentucky Wesleyan.
Sophomore Kayla Wayts fills the number two spot one year after being chosen by head coach Chris Klampe as the team’s ‘Newcomer of the Year.’ Last year, she won a pair of matches against Central State and should only be that much better with an extra year of experience on her side. Her classmate and former high school teammate Caitlin Seese starts the year at third singles. She was on the team last year, but red-shirted.
Seniors Dee Erazo and Erin Burke will also provide Klampe with some options. Leister and Wayts will team up to form Ursuline’s most formidable doubles tandem.