2008 Woodie Awards
Women notch first 20-win season
Joe Bell
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Sports
Last weekend was a weekend of firsts and lasts for the Bulldogs tennis teams.
The weekend marked the first time the women's tennis team has won 20 matches in its history. The women now stand at 20-4. The last Truman tennis team to win 20 matches in a season was the 1981 men's team, which had a record of 20-3. The women surpassed their previous best mark of 19-3 set in 1995. That year the women went on to win the MIAA championship and made it to the first round of NCAA tournament.
The women's dominant singles record this year has helped fuel their success. Only one of the women has less than a .500 singles record and another five women have won at least 25 matches this season. Junior Lindsy Blair and freshman Amy Ochs have more than 30 singles victories. The doubles teams have not been found wanting either, with two of the three winning at least 18 matches.
"I think we had a really solid team this year, so I don't think any of us were so surprised that we did well," junior Courtney Walther said. "I don't know if we were expecting to get 20 wins, but I think we knew that we had potential. I think since a lot of us have [played together so long], like Lindsy, [senior] Jennifer [Salmon] and I have been playing together for the last three years. It's really helped a lot. The freshmen have been great. They've really added a lot to our team."
Despite rain falling until Friday, the tennis squads managed to play all of their matches during the weekend. The matches against Washburn University scheduled for Friday were moved to Sunday .
"We didn't start until [noon on Saturday]," head coach Pete Kendall said. "We started a couple hours later. That was after I spent an hour and a half Friday night ... to get the courts rolled off, and then it got all wet again after we did that. So I spent three and a half hours, starting at 5:30 on Saturday morning ... getting [the courts] cleared off."
The women played strongly throughout the weekend, downing both Missouri Southern State University and nationally-ranked (No. 29) Washburn, but lost 7-2 against Southwest Baptist University. The No. 2 singles player, Blair, and the No. 5 singles player, Ochs, went undefeated, and the No. 3 doubles team of freshmen Anna Greenwald and Kelsey Kuykendall took two of the three matches they played.
The weekend marked the first time the women's tennis team has won 20 matches in its history. The women now stand at 20-4. The last Truman tennis team to win 20 matches in a season was the 1981 men's team, which had a record of 20-3. The women surpassed their previous best mark of 19-3 set in 1995. That year the women went on to win the MIAA championship and made it to the first round of NCAA tournament.
The women's dominant singles record this year has helped fuel their success. Only one of the women has less than a .500 singles record and another five women have won at least 25 matches this season. Junior Lindsy Blair and freshman Amy Ochs have more than 30 singles victories. The doubles teams have not been found wanting either, with two of the three winning at least 18 matches.
"I think we had a really solid team this year, so I don't think any of us were so surprised that we did well," junior Courtney Walther said. "I don't know if we were expecting to get 20 wins, but I think we knew that we had potential. I think since a lot of us have [played together so long], like Lindsy, [senior] Jennifer [Salmon] and I have been playing together for the last three years. It's really helped a lot. The freshmen have been great. They've really added a lot to our team."
Despite rain falling until Friday, the tennis squads managed to play all of their matches during the weekend. The matches against Washburn University scheduled for Friday were moved to Sunday .
"We didn't start until [noon on Saturday]," head coach Pete Kendall said. "We started a couple hours later. That was after I spent an hour and a half Friday night ... to get the courts rolled off, and then it got all wet again after we did that. So I spent three and a half hours, starting at 5:30 on Saturday morning ... getting [the courts] cleared off."
The women played strongly throughout the weekend, downing both Missouri Southern State University and nationally-ranked (No. 29) Washburn, but lost 7-2 against Southwest Baptist University. The No. 2 singles player, Blair, and the No. 5 singles player, Ochs, went undefeated, and the No. 3 doubles team of freshmen Anna Greenwald and Kelsey Kuykendall took two of the three matches they played.
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