Weekly Release
The Wyoming tennis team will open its 2016 fall season with a split
squad over the weekend. Two doubles teams will participate in the
Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championship while four others will
compete at the Air Force Invitational.
“The ladies are definitely ready to play against real competition,” head
coach Dean Clower said. “They are tired of practice and the repetitive
drills, so we will look to see how it goes against an opponent. As far
as practice goes, I’ve been very pleased with the upperclassmen and
newcomers. We’ve been productive every day and as a coach that’s all you
can ask for.”
The duo of Dorottya Jonas and Magdalena Stencel earned a post in the
pre-qualifying doubles draw beginning on Saturday. Jonas went 14-12
overall in doubles action while Stencel finished the 2015-16 campaign
19-14 overall. Sophomores Elisa Koonik and Tessa Van Der Ploeg were also
selected to compete in the pre-qualifying doubles draw as well. Draws
for the event will be distributed on Friday.
Four other individuals are set to participate at the Air Force
Invitational, Friday-Sunday, in Colorado Springs. Senior Miranda Talbert
along with freshmen Imogen Clews, Milka Genkova and Ana Tkachenko will
compete over the three day stretch.
The Cowgirls welcome back five starters and letterwinners to a team that
posted an 11-12 overall record and a 3-2 mark in MW action a year ago.
It was the seventh straight season the Cowgirls have recorded
double-digits wins and finished .500 or better in league play. As a
team, UW entered the spring ranked 74th and were as high as 71st during
the season.
Entering his sixth season at the helm, head coach Dean Clower has an
overall mark of 61-46 and a 21-9 record in league play. At least two
individuals have earned All-Conference honors in each of his five years
including last season. Outgoing senior Nastya Tokareva and Stencel were
selected to the All-Conference doubles team for the first time in their
careers, while both were named First Team All-Conference in singles
play.
Several individuals will be looked upon to help the Cowgirls in 2016-17,
including Jonas and Stencel. Jonas finished her junior campaign with a
21-14 overall singles record and 14-12 in doubles action. She currently
ranks 11th all-time with 58 singles wins and 13th in doubles with 52.
Stencel recorded a 23-12 mark in singles and 19-14 in doubles, which
helped her earn MW honors in both categories. Other returning
letterwinners include Talbert, Koonik and van Der Ploeg. Talbert
finished with ten singles wins and 13 in doubles play. Koonik and van
Der Ploeg each won 14 and 13 singles matches, respectively. There are
also three newcomers to the squad who hope to contribute to the team in
Clews, Genkova and Tkachenko. The squad is composed of two seniors, one
junior, two sophomores and three freshmen.
Wyoming will compete in three more tournaments following this weekend. It will be at the ITA Mountain Regional Tournament, Oct. 12-16, in Albuquerque, the CSU Invitational, Oct. 21-23, in Ft. Collins and the Red and Blue Challenge, Nov.. 4-6, in Dallas. The spring schedule begins on the road at the Hurricane Invite in Tulsa. UW’s first conference match will be Friday, March 31 against Utah State.
