The University
of North Alabama men's and women's tennis
teams will enter the 2008 season looking to
be a factor in the ever-competitive Gulf
South Conference race. The Lions have added
a cast of talented newcomers to both teams,
and also return key players from last
season's NCAA tournament run.
UNA head tennis
coach Al Morgan said while his squad will be
improved from previous seasons, so will the
rest of the GSC. "The conference has
improved as a whole," said the second-year
coach. "The top is still very strong on a
national level with Valdosta State and West
Florida, but the bottom half of the league
is getting better every year."
Last season,
the men's team went 9-11 after splitting a
pair of matches at the GSC Tournament, then
falling to Delta State at the NCAA South
Regional. Christoffer Sodemann and Carlos
Cardenas represent the only two returnees
from that team. Sodemann went 5-9 in singles
competition with a 1-0 mark at the No. 2
spot, and posted a 10-8 record in doubles.
Morgan said
Sodemann's leadership role will play a
bigger role this season. "Chris has improved
very much since last year," said Morgan. He
had an excellent Fall season and has
developed into a vocal team leader for us.
He enters the year ranked No. 10 in the ITA
singles regional poll, and is also very
strong in doubles for us."
Cardenas was
with the team a year ago but did not play.
He will enter this season as a sophomore.
"Carlos will be competing to play in the top
half of our lineup," Morgan said. "He gained
valuable experience from last year and knows
what it takes to win in the GSC."
Joining the two
returnees will be a pair of transfers from
Freed-Hardeman and two players from Germany.
Last season, Jan Miskos and Zac Bereznicki
were members of Freed-Hardeman's NAIA
national runner-up team.
The two came to
UNA after the program was terminated.
"Miskos has
valuable experience from playing on a
championship-level team," said Morgan. "He
will likely be near the top of our lineup.
Bereznicki is also a top three player for
us. He has had good success in doubles
playing with Chris (Sodemann).
Jochen Rohwer,
a senior, and Martin Siejka, a freshman,
both hail from Hamburg, Germany. "Martin has
a good physical presence on the court for
us," Morgan added. "He was a highly-ranked
junior out of Germany.
Jochen has
proven to be extremely consistent and
competitive. He is very mature and can
provide more leadership to our young team
this year."
On the women's
side, the Lions return three players,
including two who took home All-GSC honors.
Last year, the UNA women also went 9-11 and
advanced to regional play. The Lions went
1-1 in the conference tournament before
losing to Harding in the first round of the
NCAA Regional.
Yuliya
Zelenskaya returns as a second-team All-GSC
selection while Mallory Waites is the
reigning Freshman of the Year in the league.
The two represented the top two singles
players on the team a year ago. In singles
competition, Waites was 8-10 while
Zelenskaya posted an 8-9 mark. Both recorded
time at the No. 1 spot.
"These two
ladies will have different roles with
different responsibilities for us this
season," said Morgan.
"Yuliya has a
No. 9 ITA pre-season ranking. She and
Mallory will pair together often in doubles,
where they need to really step it up this
year."
Arrie Moore and
Jessica Strucher also return for the Lions
and will be expected on to play key roles in
doubles competition. Moore posted a 10-5
mark in doubles play last year while
Strucher has excelled on the Lion tennis and
women's basketball teams.
Louise Klasen
was in a similar situation as Sodemann last
season. She was on the roster but
eligibility kept her from seeing playing
time. "I think Louise should benefit from
her experience last year," said Morgan. "She
is much improved and is fighting for a spot
in the top half of the lineup."
Phillipa Reakes
is expected to make a big impact in the GSC
as a true freshman. The Beth, England native
comes to UNA as a highly-ranked player out
of the United Kingdom.
"Although she
is just a freshman, Phillipa comes to us
with a great deal of tournament experience
from England," said Morgan. "She enters our
program with several personal goals,
including an ITA ranking and the conference
Freshman of the Year award."
Kylie Realmuto,
a transfer from UAH, and Lenka Hola, an
incoming senior with one year of eligibility
left round out the women's roster. "Kylie is
an athelte who knows what it takes to win in
the GSC, and Lenka was a highly-ranked
junior coming out of the Czech Republic,"
Morgan said.
As in the past,
the Lions will fill their schedule with
tough competition. Aside from playing in one
of the toughest conferences in Division II,
UNA plays four Division I teams this year,
including Alabama-Birmingham, Austin Peay,
UT-Chattanooga and Western Kentucky. A date
with perrenial Division II power Columbus
State and traditional NAIA powers Union
University and Martin Methodist can also be
found on the schedule.
"The reason we
play the tough teams outside of our
conference is to get our teams ready to play
in the GSC,"
Morgan said.
"We expect to improve and benefit from those
matches. We have goals of making it to the
national tournament for the first time in
school history."
