May 2, 2006 Tennis selected for 1st round of Championships
The Men's and Women's tennis teams advanced to the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships, with selections announced monday afternoon. The women's team will face Trinity (TX) in San Antonio on May 6th, while the men's team will play their first round match against University of Redlands in Claremont.
The UC Santa Cruz Women’s Tennis Team is looking to build on the success of the 2005 season. Last year’s squad reached the NCAA tournament for the third time and achieved a final ranking of #12 in the country for NCAA Division III, the highest in school history. Despite graduating their top two players, the Lady Slugs of 2006 have a chance to be even better than last year’s team.
he lone senior this year is Erin Ness from Sacramento,Ca. Erin is the best pure athlete on the team and should be a fixture in both the singles and doubles lineup. She is healthy and recovered from a shoulder injury and is looking forward to leading the team in 2006.
Courtney Armstrong from Santa Barbara,Ca is part of a strong junior class and will be challenging for the top singles spot in 2006. She is known for her powerful groundstrokes and has already proven she can compete with the top Division III players in the West Region. Another strong returning junior is Angelizen Zabala from San Francisco,Ca. She has the most natural talent of any player on the team and is a phenomenal athlete as well. Angel will start the year in the top doubles position and will also be challenging for the top singles spot as well. The hardest worker on the team might be junior Emily Cook from Yreka,Ca. Emily has shown tremendous improvement in both her singles and doubles game and is a wonderful teammate. She will be challenging for spots in both the singles and doubles lineup. The final junior on the team is Lauren Tisdale from Goleta, Ca. Lauren is the lone lefty on the team and a doubles specialist as well as a great team leader. She should be a fixture in the doubles lineup all season.
The top returning sophomore is Megan Sweeney from Berkeley, Ca. Megan had a strong 2005 season and will be challenging for the top spots in both singles and doubles this year. Another tough sophomore is Marjorie Youn from Gold River,Ca. Marjorie works extremely hard on the court and will be in the singles lineup all season. She has improved tremendously in one year and should be a fixture on the team for years to come. Another returning sophomore is Chayla Furlong from Auburn,Ca. Chayla stepped up last year into the doubles lineup and dominated the court at the NCAA tournament last year. She looks to build on that success in doubles and will be challenging for a spot in the singles lineup as well. Rounding out the returning sophomore class is our local player; Kelly Kerr from Aptos,Ca. Kelly was part of that successful doubles team last year at the NCAA tournament and looks to challenge for spots in both the singles and doubles lineup. She is a tremendous worker on the court and continues to improve.
The tenth and final player on the 2006 is sophomore Jessica Ruth from Novato,Ca. Jessica is a transfer from UC Irvine where she spent one year on their Division I tennis team. She might be the best competitor on the team and we are all excited to have her on board. She will start the year as part of the top doubles team and will also be challenging for the top spot in the singles lineup.
The 2006 season should be exciting in many ways. We have achieved a preseason NCAA ranking of #4 in the West Region and #17 in the country. We will be playing the top three teams in our region this year and have a great chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament. The school has also been named as the host for the NCAA National Championships, to be held May 17-22. It will be a wonderful showcase of the best women’s tennis players in the country and our team is striving to be a part of this great event. We look forward to a great season and thank all of our parents, alumni, and friends for their support.
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