18 November 1999
CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, (309) 556-3206
 
 

Collar Named IWU Women's Tennis MVP

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Senior Jennifer Collar has been named "Most Valuable Player" for the Illinois Wesleyan University women's tennis team.

Collar (Davenport, Iowa, West HS) had an overall singles record of 15-4 and was 14-4 at No. 4 singles, where she placed third in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin meet. Collar teamed with Krista Vogel (Bloomington HS) for a 13-4 record at No. 3 doubles and a fourth place CCIW finish.

"Jen was one of the most determined players on our team this year," said IWU first-year head coach Sally Mangina, whose team was 7-5 in dual meets this year and garnered a fourth place CCIW finish. "She played with an injury at the conference meet, but really came through."

Collar finished her career with a 50-22 record, good for fourth all-time at IWU in women's tennis singles victories.

Junior Nikki Ogrin (Waukegan, Carmel HS), who was 10-7 at No. 2 singles this fall, was chosen to be the Titans' team captain next season. Ogrin has a three-year record of 33-29 and ranks No. 12 all-time in victories at IWU.

Sophomore Alison Oliver (Bannockburn, Woodlands Academy) was selected as the team's "Most Improved Player" in voting done by her teammates. "Alison is relatively new to tennis but is very athletic," Mangina said. "We could notice an improvement every single week in Alison's play."

Juniors Nicole Skalski (Flossmoor, Homewood-Flossmoor HS) and Nicole Tiberi (Frankfort, Lincoln-Way HS) continued to climb the Titans' list of career singles victories. Skalski was 15-4 this year and placed third at No. 6 singles in the CCIW meet. She is 36-16 in her career, 10th all-time at IWU, while Tiberi is 13th with a 31-31 career singles mark.

Another bright spot for the Titans was the play of Vogel, who was 12-6 at No. 3 singles, where she placed fourth in the conference tourney. "Krista met all our expectations this fall," Mangina said. "She did an excellent job playing in one of our top three singles spots and wasn't intimidated by moving up to play collegiately."

Mangina awarded letters to seven players, four of whom return for 2000. The letterwinners are, with hometowns and high schools:

SENIORS - Jennifer Collar (Davenport, Iowa, West HS); Carrie Damrow (Orland Park, Sandburg HS); Kerry Fahlbusch (Mt. Prospect, Rolling Meadows HS).

JUNIORS - Nikki Ogrin (Waukegan, Carmel HS); Nicole Skalski (Flossmoor, Homewood-Flossmoor HS); Nicole Tiberi (Frankfort, Lincoln-Way HS).

FRESHMAN - Krista Vogel (Bloomington HS).