MCC Lady Eagles tennis claim top 10 finish at nationals

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles tennis team capped off their 2008 season with a national top ten finish.

Head coach Wanda McPhail led her tennis team to Tucson, AZ for the NJCAA Women’s Tennis National Championship played at the Randolph Tennis Center on May 4-8. The Lady Eagles finished the event with 27.5 points, good enough for a tenth place finish.

Meridian, the MACJC State/Region 23 champions, posted the programs best national finish since going Division I.

35 teams from 14 different states competed in the national championship with Hillsborough Community College out of Tampa, FL winning the title. HCC ended the tournament with 45 points. Tyler Junior College out of Texas claimed runner-up with 44 points, while Lee College of Baytown, TX rounded out the top-three with 43 points.

Individually MCC’s Alycia Le Merle lost her first round singles match to Hillsborough’s Nachelle Proctor, the no. 5 seed. Le Merle won two rounds in the consolation singles before having to withdraw due to illness.

In no. 2 singles, MCC’s Kelly Sterling won her first round match over Eastern Arizona but lost her next match to Tyler’s Priscilla Villemond 6-1, 6-3. Villemond won the national championship at the two flight.

In no. 3 singles, MCC’s Ashton Hartle, the no. 6 seed, won a first round match over Johnson County’s Marie Celleti 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. In the round of 16, Hartley defeated Glendale’s Shawn Jensen 6-0, 6-1. In the quarterfinals, Hartley lost to Tyler’s Ashley Longoria 6-1, 6-2.

In no. 4 singles, MCC’s Katye Shoptaugh won her first match by defeating Elgin’s Victoria Nee 6-1, 6-2. She lost to ABAC’s Chade Scott 6-1, 6-3.

In no. 5 singles, Kayla Daughtrey won her first round match against Central Florida’s Jessica Gamgelhoff”s 6-3, 6-0 and then lost to Collin County’s Gena Sollis 6-3, 6-2. Solis won the individual national championship at no. 5.

In no. 6 singles, Jodi Webb lost her first round match to NCTC’s Danielle Cochran 6-1, 6-2. She went into the consolation bracket where after winning three matches, she lost to Seward’s Alica Larson 9-7.

In doubles play the no. 2 team of Shoptaugh and Sterling picked up three points by defeating Eastern Arizona’s Maylen and Skinner 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. They were defeated in the next round by the no. 3 seeded team of Longoria and Weir from Tyler 6-2, 6-1.

The no. three double’s team from MCC Moon and Webb defeated Morraine Valley’s Modrigal and Body 7-6, 6-3. They won the next round by defeating Jones County of MS 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 before falling to Tyler CC 6-0, 6-1.

The no. 1 doubles team of Alycia Le Merle and Ashton Hartley, who were seeded 9th, lost a first round doubles match to Seminole CC out of Oklahoma, but in what was perhaps the most exciting match in the consolation draw, they defeated Hillsborough’s team 9-7 and then won a match against Eastern Arizona 9-7 to win the draw.

“The girls performed extremely well at the tournament,” said Coach McPhail. “I don’t think we could have picked up over another point at any spot. Le Merle”s withdrawal from the no. one singles consolation cost us a point, but if she had played that match, she may have had to default the doubles due to a stomach virus that affected many of the teams. Tyler’s no. three doubles had to be taken to the hospital due to dehydration from the virus.”


2008 NJCAA Women's Tennis National Championship
Division I Team Standings - Day 5 (May 8th, 2008)
1. Hillsborough Community College (Tampa, FL) - 45 NATIONAL CHAMPION
2. Tyler Junior College (Tyler, TX) - 44
3. Lee College (Baytown, TX) - 43
4. Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (Tifton, GA) - 42
5. Collin County Community College (Plano, TX) - 39.5
6. North Central Texas College (Gainesville, TX) - 38
7. Laredo Community College (Laredo, TX) - 37
8. Florida Community College (Jacksonville, FL) - 31
9. Barton County Community College (Great Bend, KS) - 29
10. Meridian Community College (Meridian, MS) - 27.5
11. Seminole State College Oklahoma (Seminole, OK) - 27
12. Kalamazoo Valley Community College (Kalamazoo Valley, MI) - 26
13. Central Florida Community College (Ocala, FL) - 23
14. Eastern Arizona College (Thatcher, AZ) - 21.5
14. Johnson County Community College (Overland Park, KS) - 21.5
16. Seward County Community College (Liberal, KS) - 18
17. Grand Rapids Community College (Grand Rapids, MI) - 17.5
18. Glendale Community College (Glendale, AZ) - 17
19. Temple College (Temple, TX) - 15.5
20. Cowley County Community College (Arkansas City, KS) - 14
20. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (Gulfport, MS) - 14
22. Central Alabama Community College (Alexander City, AL) - 13
23. Jones County Junior College (Ellisville, MS) - 12
23. University of Arkansas – FS (Fort Smith, AR) - 12
23. Muskegon Community College (Muskegon, MI) - 12
26. Snead State Community College (Boaz, AL) - 11
27. Scottsdale Community College (Scottsdale, AZ) - 10.5
28. Broward Community College (Davie, FL) - 9
28. Hagerstown Community College (Hagerstown, MD) - 9
30. Waubonsee Community College (Sugar Grove, IL) - 6
31. Cecil Community College (North East, MD) - 5
32. Pima Community College (Tucson, AZ) - 4
33. Moraine Valley Community College (Palos Hills, IL) - 3.5
34. Lewis & Clark Community College (Godfrey, IL) - 3
35. Elgin Community College (Elgin, IL) - 0
35. Sauk Valley Community College (Dixon, IL) - 0