Texas Tech University Athletics
Women's Tennis Welcomes In 2007
January 24, 2007 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 24, 2007
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LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech women's tennis team will open their regular season by hosting two top 50 ITA nationally ranked teams. The team faces No. 42 Oregon on Friday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. and against No. 44 Alabama on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. at the Lubbock Country Club.
This is the first meeting between the Lady Ducks and Lady Raiders. Oregon is coming off a two match sweep over Montana and Portland. No. 28 ranked doubles duo of Dominika Dieskova and Ana Cecilia Olivos continue to knotch in wins, helping lead their team to 2-0 on the season.
The Crimson Tide comes to Lubbock after participating in the Virginia Invitational, where they notched in individual wins against Purdue, Tennessee, and Virginia. Alabama leads the series with Texas Tech, after shutting out the Lady Raiders last season 4-0.
The Lady Raider tennis team looks to continue its upward momentum from the previous years as it enters the 2007 season. After being ranked No. 61 in the ITA poll in 2005, last year the team moved up 10 spots rounding out the season at No. 51. Their success is obvious, and this season will be no exception as they currently sit ranked at No. 54.
"You are always excited about what a new season holds in store," commented Head Coach Cari Groce on the upcoming season. "A new combination of players makes it a new beginning every August."
Senior Spotlight The team is led by senior captain Lakann Wagley, who last year earned All-Big 12 tennis doubles honors with Browning for the second time in their career. She also was named to the 2006 Academic All-Big 12 second team for the second year in a row. The Oklahoma City native heads into her last season with an overall record of 48-36 in singles, 58-35 in doubles.
In preparation for the season, Tech's doubles continues to uphold its competitive reputation. This year, Wagley is expected to pair up with freshman Kerryn Potgieter in the No. 1 doubles position. Another powerful doubles team for Texas Tech will be junior Janet Durham and sophomore Anne Sophie Fankam. Sophomores Deanna Carrillo and Samantha van der Drift, and three additional incoming freshmen will also add to this year's roster.
Groce Brings Honors to Tech At the helm for the Lady Raiders is Coach Cari Groce, who enters her fourth season as head coach of the women's tennis program at Tech. Spending 12 years coaching at Washington State, Groce holds a career record of 185-162, 35-31 at Tech. Groce was named the 2006 Professional Tennis Registry Coach of the Year and received the USTA/ITA Community Service Award for the Texas section.
New Faces on the Court Adding to Tech's 2007 lineup are four new freshmen, which include Yaroslava Balakhonova from Nakhodka, Russia, Midland, Texas native Molly Cook, Maria Jose Andres from San Luis Potosi, Mexico and Kerryn Potgieter from Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Already compiling a fall tournament record of 8-9 in singles and 10-7 in doubles, Potgieter will be worked into the fall doubles lineup.
Fall Schedule Under Wraps This year's fall season started off full speed with a series of tournaments on the road. The team made Waco, Texas its first stop as it participated in the Baylor Invitational, then headed to Denton, Texas for the North Texas Invite. At the end of September, Tech hosted its third annual Scarborough Specialties Open which included seven teams from the surrounding areas. Tech also sent Browning and Wagley to compete in the ITA All-American where they fell to Old Dominion's top duo. After the ITA Regionals in Fort Worth, Texas, the team wrapped up its tournament play in Kalamazoo, Mich. for the WMU Super Challenge.
Tech will host 16 home matches this season, as Friday's match is the first of a 10 match series spent in Lubbock. Matches will be played at the Don & Ethel McLeod Tennis Center, with the exception of weather in which matches will move inside to the Lubbock Country Club. Pizza will be provided every home match curtosy of Dominos, and prizes will be raffled off during intermission periods.
Live stats will be made available online, as well as final results posted on the women's page in the post-game release. For more information and complete results please visit www.texastech.com.
