The NCAA News - News & Features

I women's tennis proclaims team qualifying change a success

BY STEPHEN R. HAGWELL
Staff Writer

Gauging a championship's success typically is a post-event procedure.

That will not be the case with regard to the team competition at the 1996 Division I Women's Tennis Championships.

The tourney is still weeks away, but this year's event already has been proclaimed a success.

That's because for the first time in the championships' 14-year history, regional qualifying tournaments will be conducted in team competition.

Approved by the NCAA Executive Committee in May 1995, six regional tournaments involving eight teams each will be held to determine six of the 16 entrants in the team championship. The six regional winners will advance to the championship finals, where they will join the nation's 10 top-ranked teams as determined before the regionals by the Division I subcommittee of the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Committee. The top 10 teams will not play in the regionals.

Previously, the championship consisted of the nation's top 20 teams as selected by the Division I women's tennis subcommittee of the Men's and Women's Tennis Committee.

"In many ways, this year's championship is going to be the best ever," said Sheila McInerney, women's tennis coach at Arizona State University. "Just taking into account the number of teams that will participate and the parity that exists across the country, I think this year's championship is going to be very competitive and exciting."

That's a guaranteed outcome, based solely on numbers.

Field size nearly triples

Because of the regional tournaments, an additional 38 teams and 228 student-athletes will compete in this year's event, compared to last year. In all, a record 58 teams -- nearly three times as many as in previous championships -- will take part in this year's event.

"It's a great thing for the sport," said Steve Bietau, women's tennis coach at Kansas State University and a member of the Men's and Women's Tennis Committee. "If you talk to the (Division I) men, who now have experienced this, you'll find that it generates a lot of local interest for the sport because you now have eight communities at each site that share in the excitement of the NCAA championships.

"The feedback I've heard from coaches is that the No. 1 thing is the level of excitement created by more people having the chance to compete in the national championship."

While regional qualifying tournaments may be new to the championship, the idea is not.

Coaches and the subcommittee have discussed for years implementing regional tournaments as a means to increase championship opportunities.

In 1995, after a survey of head coaches, senior woman administrators and conference administrators revealed a desire to alter the championship format to include regional qualifying, the subcommittee requested and received approval from the Executive Committee to establish the tournaments.

The Division I women's championship is the fifth NCAA tennis event to add regional qualifying tournaments. All three men's championships and the Division II women's championship conduct regional tournaments as part of their championships.

"It's been our philosophy to try to increase participation at (the championship) level and at the same time try to bring NCAA events into everyone's back yard," said Lisa Fortman, women's tennis coach at Northwestern University and a member of the Men's and Women's Tennis Committee. "We believe that the addition of regional tournaments will increase excitement across the country."

With changes come concerns

To accommodate the addition of regional tournaments, the subcommittee has altered the field size, date formula and length of play for the championship finals.

In 1995, the championship was a five-day, 20-team affair that began on the second Friday in May. But this year's championship will feature 16 teams competing over a four-day period beginning the third Saturday in May.

While expressing enthusiasm for the regional tournaments, some coaches also are concerned about the decision to schedule the championship finals one week later. They contend that moving the finals to the third week of May puts the top 10 teams that automatically advance at a disadvantage against those that advance via regional tournaments.

"For those teams that get directly into the team final, the week off creates a very long period of inactivity," said Andy Brandi, women's tennis coach at the University of Florida. "You can't play matches because you used all your dates before, so you're not going to the NCAA's being match tough.

"I don't know what the answer is, but it creates a problem."

Bietau says he understands the dilemma that the top 10 teams will face, but adds that the subcommittee had to alter the dates to avoid conflict with final exam schedules.

Fortman also acknowledged that the additional week off may have a negative impact on some teams. But she believes the subcommittee's responsibility to student-athletes outweighs such potential conflict.

"Our No. 1 priority was academic conflict," she said. "Through studies and surveying of the membership, we found more than 50 percent of participants at the NCAAs were in the middle of their finals. We didn't think that it was fair to the student-athletes to have them compete at that time.

"It's our responsibility to student-athletes to be sure we're giving them the fairest opportunity to perform both in the classroom and on the court."

Opportunity. That, says Bietau, is what the regional qualifying tournaments are all about.

"There are always things we can work on and improve on. We'll find those as we go along," he said. "Right now, this plan has a lot of positive aspects. It provides a lot of opportunities.

"Before, if you weren't among the top 20 teams, you didn't get in. Now, if you're a competitive team you will get the opportunity to play into the finals site through your regional. This is your opportunity to play for the championship. That's exciting."