Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Sept. 22, 2005, edition 1 / Page 12
Part of University of North Carolina Wilmington Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
t September 22, 2005 ^eahawk Sports Page 12 Three seniors secure UNCW i i women's tennis ‘Amy Grace Lombardo Senior Staff Writer An engraved rock sits on wom en’s tennis coach Jenny Garrity’s desk reading: Success is a jour ney, not a destination. Seniors Lindsey Hess, Kristin Mears and Cassie Martin have covered a lot of ground in their time playing tennis for UNCW. Since their freshman year, the team has doubled in size, received honors for academics and moved up in conference. “Now as a senior I look back on ‘‘My nine teammates and two wonderful coaches are my home away from home. We are essentially one big family, and that is the heart and soul of this program. ” -Kristin Mears where we started and where we are now, and it’s amazing how far we have come,” Kristin Mears said. “Every year since I’ve been here I’ve been able to say, ‘This is the best-team we’ve ever had,’ and then the next year we just get better.” Ahhough the official season doesn’t begin until spring, the women’s tennis team uses the off season for preparation. Three-hour practices, six days a week, followed by lifting weights has kept the team at the top of their game. Hess believes that without the long work outs, hours on the court, early track runs and late riights in the weight room, they would not be where they are today. “It’s not normal that you have an entire team as close as we are. We practice together, lift together, eat together, hang out together, basical ly do everything together,” Mears said. “My nine teammates and two wonderful coaches are my home away from home. We are essentially one big family, and that is the heart and soul of this program.” The women’s tennis team has been recognized repeatedly by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) for outstanding performance in the classroom. They were named an All-America Academic team, which requires a 3.2 cumulative grade point average, for the past four seasons. Lindsey Hess was honored as an ITA Scholar-Athlete for the third year in a row. This requires a student athlete to have a minimum 3.5 GPA, gain a varsity letter and be enrolled for at least two semesters. “It is extremely difficult to balance life as a student athlete. The fact is though, that is what we are students first, then athletes,” Hess said. “Being busy is what keeps us motivated. It is just important to always keep priorities straight and learn to man age time well.” While Hess and Mears have played tennis for UNCW since their freshman year, Martin transferred from Elon as a junior, and in only two years has seen the team trans form. Martin said it has been an honor to play for UNCW, and she hopes to leave the younger girls with the pride that the seniors are leaving behind. The first tourna ment this fall-will be an invitational hosted by UNCW on September 16-18. The competition will last all day from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. all three days. It will be good prac tice for January, when the three seniors will continue to lead the women’s tennis team on their successful journey. "It is extremely difficult to balance life as a student athlete. The fact is though, that is what we are stu dents first, then athletes." -Lindsey Hess M. All tennis photos by Brendan-Keppie I THE SEAHAWK Men s tennis sweeps invitationals; setting up for more ’wins Greg Dew Senior Staff Writer After sweeping the UNCW/ Landfall Invitational singles titles, the UNCW men’s termis team i? looking to continue their hot play next weekend at the Coastal Carolina Invitational. The Seahawks endured their first losing season since 2000- 2001, posting an 8-12 mark, and perhaps the Landfall is only a preview of a turnaround season. Junior Caio Piacentini took the crown in the Teal bracket, defeating Mount Olive’s Gabriel Garcia 6-1. 7-5 in the final. Piacentini is coming off a big year for the Seahawks, going 14-4 in singles play as a sophomore. The other Seahawk champion was Dennis Myers, a junior newcomer from Charlotte. Myers won his first two matches handily, before being tested by UNC’s Sandeep Daiya 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 en route to the Blue bracket title. On the women’s side, a pair of Seahawks also took home a title, with senior Lindsey Hess and and freshman Lauren Isenhour teaming up for the women’s doubles championship. The championship match had a bit of a familiar feeline. with their competitors bein, UNCW teammates Kate Marsha and Kate Carlson. The wirming ways continue' this past weekend at the UNCV invitational, with another Seahaw tandem taking the title. This timt seniors Cassie Martin and Kristi Mears defeated Charlotte’s Kath; Robey and Koren Fleming by a: 8-5 count in the final match. Th women’s team return to the coui October 14, travelling to 01' Dominion for the ODU Invitatiom tournament.
University of North Carolina Wilmington Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 22, 2005, edition 1
12
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75