BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- There’s a fresh look to on this fall’s Illinois
Wesleyan University women's tennis team with four freshmen and six letterwinners,
none of whom are seniors.
Head coach Barb Cothren, whose team finished with a 11-4 record
and placed fourth in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin meet
a year ago, has used this year’s early matches and pracice rounds to sort
out who will play where. The Titans are 3-1 so far and host North Park
Friday (Sept. 11) afternoon at 3.
Battling for the top three singles positions are sophomores Nicole
Tiberi (Frankfort, Lincoln-Way HS) and Nikki Ogrin (Waukegan, Carmel HS)
and junior Carrie Damrow (Orland Park, Sandburg HS).
Tiberi was 10-7 overall and 8-5 at No. 4 singles last year, while
Ogrin logged an 8-10 overall singles record. Damrow was 8-9 in singles
and has a career record of 15-17.
Sophomore Nicole Skalski (Flossmoor, Homewood-Flossmoor HS) and
junior Jennifer Collar (Davenport, Iowa, West HS), are set at No. 4 and
No. 5 singles. Skalski was 4-1 in limited singles action last fall while
Collar was 10-2 overall and is 20-10 in two seasons in singles.
Contending for the No. 6 singles spot are junior letterwinner
Sarah Sjostrom (Rockford, Guilford HS), freshman Heidi Herner (Wadsworth,
Warren Township HS) and junior Kerry Fahlbusch (Mt. Prospect, Rolling Meadows
HS), who is in her first year of competitive collegiate tennis.
Cothren has teamed Ogrin and Tiberi at No. 1 doubles, Damrow
andSkalski at No. 2, with Collar and Herner playing at No. 3.
IWU, which hosts the CCIW championships next month, lost Sara
Nance, last season’s “MVP”, to graduation while last year’s No. 1 player,
Holly Gutierrez, elected not to play this fall. Nance won the CCIW No.
5 singles title and was 15-0 in singles in 1997. Gutierrez finished with
an 8-8 record but, as an unseeded player, finished fourth in the CCIW meet.
September 3 ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD
3 p.m.
September 9 AURORA 3 p.m.
September 11 *NORTH PARK 3 p.m.
September 16 at Chicago 2 p.m.
September 18 *ELMHURST 3 p.m.
September 23 *at North Central 3 p.m.
September 25 BRADLEY 1 p.m.
September 26 INDIANA-PURDUE-IN’POLIS 9:30 a.m.
September 29 *at Augustana 3 p.m.
October 2 at
Lake Forest 3 p.m.
October 3 *at Carthage
10 a.m.
October 6 *WHEATON
3 p.m.
October 9 ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD
1:30 p.m.
October 13 *MILLIKIN 3 p.m.
October 17-18 CCIW Championships at IWU (Evergreen Racquet
Club)
*-Indicates CCIW match
NAME
HT. YR. HOMETOWN (HIGH SCHOOL)
Jennifer Collar**#
5-10 Jr. Davenport, Iowa (West HS)
Carrie Damrow**#
5-2 Jr. Orland Park (Sandburg HS)
Kerry Fahlbusch
5-3 Jr. Mt. Prospect (Rolling Meadows HS)
Heidi Herner
5-3 Fr. Wadsworth (Warren Township HS)
Nikki Ogrin*
5-6 So. Waukegan (Carmel HS)
Jeannette Otis
5-9 Fr. Towanda (Normal Community HS)
Megan Sholar
5-7 Jr. Godfrey (Alton Marquette HS)
Sarah Sjostrom*
5-6 Jr. Rockford (Guilford HS)
Nicole Skalski*
5-7 So. Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor HS)
Jaclin Szafraniec
5-5 Fr. Mt. Prospect (Rolling Meadows HS)
Nicole Tiberi*
5-6 So. Frankfort (Lincoln-Way HS)
Elena Zvirbulis
5-5 Fr. Orland Park (Sandburg HS)
*--Indicates letters won. #--Indicates
captains.