Tennis Heads To Ball State InvitationalOct. 1, 2003
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The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's tennis team continues its 2003 fall schedule by traveling to Muncie, Ind., for the Ball State Invitational. * The Competition The field at Ball State includes the host Cardinals, plus IPFW, IUPUI, Butler, Dayton and UWM. * Recapping The Last Time Out The Panthers nearly helped new head coach Erika Wentz gain her first career victory, as UWM fell 5-4 to UW-Whitewater Sept. 20 in Whitewater. The Panthers just missed out on claiming the crucial fifth point in the dual meet, losing three tight matches that would have made the difference. * Coach's Corner On The UW-Whitewater Dual "It was a couple of points here and there," UWM head coach Erika Wentz said. "The match could have gone either way. We need to work on playing the big points better." * Big Wins At The Top A number of Panthers stepped up to claim big wins in the dual with UW-Whitewater. Margie Van Lieshout claimed an impressive, 6-1, 6-4, win at number-one singles, while Tammie Spiel was just as impressive in winning, 6-4, 6-0 in number-two singles. * Oh So Close Three matches in the dual with Whitewater turned into heartbreaking losses for a Panther team in search of a crucial fifth point that would have meant victory. Shayna Illingworth had to pull out of her singles match due to illness after losing the first set, 7-6. Megan Brown fell at number-four singles, 7-6, 7-5. And, in doubles play, the team of Tammie Spiel and Cassie Kuranz fell, 8-6. * Adding To The Schedule UWM has added another match to its spring schedule. The Panthers' spring trip to California will now start with a March 20 match with Southern Utah. UWM also plays UC-Riverside and Cal-State Fullerton on its trip. Earlier, the Panthers added two other matches - a March 12 date at Ball State and a March 13 contest with IUPUI. * Everyone Gets Involved As has been the case for the first two meets of the fall season, the entire Panther roster will get to compete at the Ball State Invitational. All eight Panthers will play singles and UWM will field four doubles teams in the flighted competition. * Leading The Pack Sophomore Marjorie VanLieshout will again be at the top of the Panther lineup card this weekend. The sophomore from Oshkosh, Wis., moved up to number one singles after winning three matches in the number two slot last year. * Checking The Lineup Card Head coach Erika Wentz will likely change her lineup slightly this weekend at Ball State, moving the team of Cassie Kuranz and Tammie Spiel to number-two doubles and the team of Megan Brown and Melissa Hackett to number-three doubles. * Coaches' Corner On The Ball State Invite "Four of the teams we will see at this meet we will be seeing again in the spring, so it will be a good test," UWM head coach Erika Wentz said. "It will give us a good idea of the competition that we will be facing in the spring and what we need to do against those teams." * Up Next
UWM finishes the fall schedule at the ITA Regionals in East Lansing, Mich., in three weeks.
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