Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Feb. 24, 2003

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's tennis team (1-6, 0-1 Horizon) will open the home slate of the 2002-03 season Sunday when Horizon League rival Cleveland State visits southeast Wisconsin. The Panthers and Vikings will start things off Sunday at 10 a.m. at Moorland Park Tennis Club in New Berlin, Wis.

Last Time Out
The Panthers dropped a pair of matches on Feb. 8 and 9 in Peoria, Ill, losing to DePaul by a 7-0 score before falling to Bradley, 4-3. Molly Caulk, Megan Brown and Erin Felber each picked up a singles win against the Braves, while Caulk teamed with Cassie Kuranz to win in doubles.

This Week's Opponent
The Vikings are 1-10 on the season and are coming off a 7-0 loss to Eastern Illinois on Thursday. Cleveland State's lone win came on Feb. 16 at Greensboro College. CSU, like the Panthers, is 0-1 in Horizon League play, losing to Youngstown State on Feb. 7 in Youngstown, Ohio.

Series Records
This will be the 14th meeting between the two schools since UWM moved to Division I in 1990. The Panthers own nine wins against the Vikings, having won the first six matches between the two schools. Cleveland State won last year's matchup in Cleveland, 5-2. UWM won the doubles point with Molly Caulk and Cassie Kuranz picking up a win at No. 1, while the Vikings lost by default in No. 3 doubles. The other Panther point was tallied by Tammie Spiel, winning at No. 6 singles by default.

New To New Berlin
The Panthers will play all three of their home matches this season at the Moorland Park Tennis Club in New Berlin after using the Hidden Valley Tennis Center in Jackson, Wis., as their home last season. The Moorland Park Tennis Club can be reached by taking I-94 west to Moorland Road south. Follow Moorland Road about three miles to Cleveland Ave., where you will turn right and continue to 163rd Street. Turning left on 163rd Street, the club is 1 block up on the left-hand side of the road.

Player of the Week
After going nearly three years without without having a UWM tennis player named Player of the Week, it took freshman Alyssa Halcomb just a month into her first season to accomplish the feat twice. Halcomb was most recently named Player of the Week on Oct. 29 following her play at the ITA Midwest Regional. She previously earned the honor for the week ending Oct. 13 after leading the Panthers to a victory over Missouri-Kansas City. That victory ended the Panthers' 28-match losing streak and was the first time since Erin Jex took over as head coach that the Panthers shut out an opponent. Halcomb was the first Panther to earn the league's weekly honor since Kristine Miller won the award on April 27, 2000.

Off and Running
The two newcomers to this year's team both had impressive debuts Sept. 21 at Whitewater, collecting both of the team's wins. At No. 2 singles, Alyssa Halcomb collected her first collegiate win, winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, while Margie Van Lieshout also picked up career win number one at No. 4 singles, winning 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. The pair also had a strong weekend at the Ball State Invitational, where they both finished fourth in their flight.

Spring Season = Some Success
Over the past three seasons, the Panthers have had more success in the spring portion of the season than in the fall, as UWM has picked up 12 wins in the spring session. During the fall, UWM has picked up just three wins in the last four years, including the victory over Missouri-Kansas City on Oct. 12. The Panthers are a combined 12-36 in the spring season, for a .250 winning percentage, compared to the 3-13 (.188) they have accumulated over the fall season during the same time frame.

Caulk Climbs the Lists
Senior Molly Caulk stands in fourth place all-time in career matches with 77 matches played after the match with UIC Sunday. Caulk moved alone into fourth place with the season-opening match at UW-Whitewater on Sept. 21. She ended last season with 72, tied with Lori Rocklewitz, who played from 1993-97, and Tori Whitlinger, who played from 1994-98. Angi Bayer holds the school mark with 86 matches played, a mark Caulk is on pace to break during the Horizon League Tournament.

Freshmen Finding Success
Freshmen Margie Van Lieshout and Alyssa Halcomb both have had a solid start to their freshman seasons. Van Lieshout picked up her fourth win of the season Oct. 19 at Indianapolis, while Halcomb won her fourth match Oct. 24 at the ITA Regionals. The Panthers have had a trend of success from freshmen, as UWM has had a freshman win at least six matches each year for the past three years. Megan Brown picked up six last season, while Cassie Kuranz won the same number in her freshman campaign. Molly Caulk started the trend by winning nine matches during her rookie season in 1999-2000. The UWM record for wins in a season by a freshman is 14, held by Angi Bayer in 1992-93 and Tori Whitlinger in 1994-95.

Spring Break in Sunny Milwaukee
For the first time since the 1998-99 season, and the first time since coach Erin Jex took over the UWM tennis program, the Panthers will not be taking a training trip during Spring Break. Last year, UWM traveled to Texas for matches against Texas-Pan American, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and St. Mary's of Texas. The Panthers went 0-3 on last year's trip. Since moving to Division I in 1990, the Panthers are 9-17 all-time on Spring Break trips.

Up Next
The Panthers will head to Northern Illinois for a meeting with the Huskies on March 22. That match is slated to begin at 1 p.m.