Lady Eagle Tennis finishes 11th at Nationals

The Meridian Community College women’s tennis team finished tied for eleventh place at the NJCAA Division I Women’s Tennis National Championship held in Tucson, AZ on May 2nd-6th.

As has been the precedent this year, the NJCAA women’s national tennis tournament had a slow start on opening day of play as the weather threw the players everything it could. The day began sunny and bright but by noon with play under way, the wind was gusting to 35 miles an hour. In a city where rain is seldom seen, Meridian’s number two doubles’ team not only battled it out with perennial powerhouse ABAC but also had a dual with the wind and rain. With rain hitting the courts and play never suspended, Savannah Zachry and Jessica Halterman came back from a first set deficit to win the last match on the courts for the day putting Meridian in a tie for fourth place after the first day of competition.

In other match play Anna Vavrik, the no. 7 seed, won her first match against North Central Texas 6-1, 6-1. She then defeated ABAC’s Alejandra Gamboa 2, 3 before losing in the quarterfinals to the no. 2 seed from Lee College 4, 3. At number two singles, Aline Ferreira, the no. 8 seed, defeated Marion Military Institute’s Ashley Grafton 0,0. In the second round she won against Mesa CC 1, 1; then lost in the quarterfinals to St. Petersburg Florida’s Jovana Vasic 0, 0. At the number three single’s spot, freshman Savannah Zachry, the no. 7 seed, won her first round against Snead State 1,2. In the round of 16 she defeated NCTC 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; then she lost in the quarterfinals to the no. 2 seed from Lee College 2, 0. In what was the toughest draw of the day, Meridian’s freshman Jessica Halterman fell to Florida State College of Jacksonville 4, 0. Jessica lost in the consolation draw to Eastern Arizona’s Rachel Clark by a score of 8-3. At the number five single’s spot, Kaley Allen of MCC won her first round of play by defeating the College of Lake County 3, 2. She then fell to St. Petersburg, the no. 3 seed, 3, 2. At no. 6, MCC’s Indi Mire won her first round of play by defeating ASA Institute out of New York 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. She then defeated Jones County 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-2. In the quarterfinals, she lost a tough match to Collin County 3, 5.

Meridian’s number one and two doubles’ teams won their first round matches by defeating Waubonsee CC and ABAC colleges respectively by scores of 0,3 and 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The no. 1 flight of Anna Vavrik and Aline Ferreira then lost to the no. 5 seed, Cowley College, 5, 3. The no. 2 team of Savannah Zachry and Jessica Halterman fell to the two seed, Lee College, 1, 0. At no. 3 doubles, Kaley Allen and Shelley Munn lost the first round against Glendale 0, 1. In the consolation draw they picked up an important point by winning two rounds against Mississippi Gulf Coast and Central Alabama before losing to consolation champions Cowley College 8-4.

“The ladies performed extremely well. There were seven freshman on the squad. Hopefully, we learned a lot from competing at this level that will help us to get back into the top ten next year. The ladies had not faced this kind of competition this season due to so much rain and bad weather, which resulted in cancelled matches. A trip to Oklahoma that would have helped prepare the ladies for national competition was cancelled as well. I feel that this really hurt us as far as our performance at the national tournament. Playing teams that are better than us helps make us better, and we just did not get the opportunity to do that this year, “ said Coach McPhail.

“Hopefully, we will get the opportunity to face stiffer competition next year and be better prepared when we go.“




2010 NJCAA Women's Tennis National Championship
FINAL
1. Tyler - 52 NATIONAL CHAMPION
2. Lee - 36
3. Hillsborough - 31
4. Cowley - 24
5. Collin - 23
6. Florida Jacksonville - 22.5
6. ASA Inst. - 22.5
8. St. Petersburg - 21
9. Seminole State - 20
9. NCTC - 20
11. Johnson - 19
11. Meridian - 19
11. Eastern Arizona - 19
14. Temple - 18
15. Mesa - 17.5
16. Kalamazoo - 16
17. ABAC - 12.5
18. Jones - 11.5
19. Pima - 9.5
20. Glendale - 8.5
20. MS Gulfcoast - 8.5
22. NM Military - 8
23. Elgin - 6
24. Seward - 5.5
25. Marion Military - 5
26. Harford - 4.5
26. Lewis & Clark - 4.5
28. Central Alabama - 4
29. Snead State - 3.5
30. Lake County - 2
31. Waubonsee - .5