Can't
get to the game? Don't worry, we've got ya covered.
Tiger tennis team ranked
11/22/2007
By NICK McQUEEN
Hays Daily News
The Fort Hays State University women's tennis team will begin the spring season where it ended last year's run -- ranked in the ITA North Central Region.
The rankings, released last week, put the Tigers No. 9 in the top 10 rankings. The region is comprised of four conferences: the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the North Central Conference, and the Northern Sun Conference.
"It's quite an honor in the top 10," Tiger 12th-year head coach Brian Flax said. "Last year, we finished in the top 10, so to start out there this year puts us right in the mix to get into the NCAA regional."
The Tigers finished their fall portion of the season with a 5-1 record and four NCAA Division II wins and sent a pair of doubles teams and two individuals to the fall ITA regional in Maryville, Mo. Fort Hays, a member of the MIAA, defeated two schools from the RMAC in the fall. Its only loss was to No. 4 ranked Mesa State (Colo.) College.
"It has a lot of pull. It is definitely the elite conference out of the four that are involved," Flax said of being in the MIAA.
The Tigers had just one player make it past the first round in the ITA regional in September, but Flax said his team is looking forward to getting things going in the spring, which gets underway March 6 against Colorado State University-Pueblo.
"We didn't perform very well at the tournament, " Flax said. "But, we don't really have any superstars, but a lot of good players from top to bottom."
Fort Hays will begin MIAA play March 14 against Northwest Missouri State University on the road. The MIAA has seven teams ranked in the top 10, with Emporia State University taking the top spot. Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University is ranked second, and Washburn University, third. Mesa State is ranked fourth, while MIAA members Truman State (Mo.) University, Northwest Missouri State University and Missouri Southern State University are fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. RMAC member University of Nebraska-Kearney is No. 8, while North Central member South Dakota is No. 10.
Flax also announced Tuesday the signing of two new players for the 2008-09 season. Phillipsburg's Kayla Jarvis and Goddard's Krista Lindsey will be freshmen at Fort Hays in the fall.
Jarvis joins the Tigers after competing four years under Panther coach Donna Jarvis, her mother and a former Fort Hays tennis player in the late 1970s. Kayla was a four-time Class 3-2-1A state qualifier and posted a career record of 124-27.
"She is a nice, smart player,"¬ Flax said of Jarvis. "If you win 124 matches in four years, you're doing something right. She and Krista will be good additions for our squad."
Lindsey is a two-time Class 6A qualifier with a career record of 82-43 for Goddard. She finished 29-12 in her senior season in doubles action with a seventh-place finish in Class 6A.
"She played mostly doubles in high school, but she is an extremely good singles player. Her and Kayla will both come in here and help us out,"¬ Flax said.
Sports reporter Nick McQueen can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 128 or by e-mail at
nmcqueen@dailynews.net.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
| SB | 5/01 | Emporia State | L 11-0 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 14-1 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 12-2 |
