The NCAA News - News and Features

May 4, 1998

Division III Women's Tennis

Kenyon looks to be first III women's tennis team to repeat as title winner

Event: 1998 Division III Women's Tennis Championships.

Overview: Defending champion Kenyon is looking to become the first Division III women's tennis program to repeat as NCAA champion. Kenyon won the 1995 and 1997 titles but was unable to repeat in 1996 when Emory ousted the Ladies in the semifinals. Kenyon returned the favor in 1997 by defeating Emory in the semifinals. Kenyon is led by Ali St. Vincent and Caryn Cuthbert in singles. St. Vincent and Cuthbert also form a powerful duo in doubles .... Emory will look to dethrone Kenyon as it did in 1996. Emory defeated Kenyon earlier this season, 5-4. The Eagles are paced by sophomores Alexa Wilensky and Julie Sterner along with junior Tracy Sub. The trio has combined for a 47-10 singles record .... Trinity (Texas) is looking for championship glory behind the performances of singles players Lola Taylor and Nadine Nitisusanta. The duo is 12-1 in doubles this year .... Also seeking the crown will be host institution Washington and Lee. Top-ranked in the South region, Washington and Lee will rely on strong tournament performances from No. 1 singles player Ericka Shapard. Shapard will partner with Berry Blankinship as the Generals' No. 1 doubles team with an 18-7 record. Washington and Lee has finished in the top four in the last three championships. The Generals placed fourth in 1995, second in 1996 and third in 1997 .... Skidmore also will field a strong team behind singles players Jamie Levine, who enters the field with experience, having played in the 1997 singles finals and the 1995 singles semifinals. Levine matches up with Inke Noel for doubles play.

Field: The team-championships field includes 14 teams; the individual championships include 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams. Two teams from each of four regions (East, Midwest, South and West) will receive automatic berths; the remaining six teams will be selected at large. A minimum of one singles player and one doubles team will be selected from each of the four regions.

Dates and sites: Washington and Lee will host the championships May 5-11. The team championships will be held May 5-8; singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 9-11.

Information/results: The NCAA Fax-on-Demand System will have information and results of the championships. The telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1559 for dates and sites, 1560 for bracket/schedule, 5256 for qualifiers, 5257 through 5260 for team results, and 5261 through 5263 for individual results. Regional and championships results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championships results will be published in the May 18 issue of The NCAA News.