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 Sophomore Trish Hanson will lead the Catamounts in the 2006 SoCon Women's Tennis Championships on Thursday afternoon. |
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April 19, 2006
2006 SoCon Women's Tennis Championship - LIVE SCORING
Cullowhee, N.C. - Tenth-seeded Western Carolina will face the number seven seed, Georgia Southern, at 2:30 pm on Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the 2006 Southern Conference Women's Tennis tournament at the Earle Tennis Center on the campus of The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. The winner will advance to face the second-seeded Davidson Wildcats on Friday at 12:30 pm at the City of Charleston Farmfield Courts in the quarterfinal round.
After finishing the season 3-17 overall and winless in nine SoCon matches, Western will look to begin anew with a fresh start in the conference championship. Earlier this season, Western fell 7-0 to the Eagles in Statesboro, but spotted GSU two singles points by not fielding a number five or six player. As has been the case all season, the Catamounts will again spot GSU a point at number six singles and the number three doubles. The formatting of the tournament is best four out of seven games with six singles matches and three doubles, which will be played first with a single point on the line in the best two out of three.
WCU, seeded 11th, also fell to the #6 seeded Eagles in last year's opening round, 4-0.
The women's tennis championship was first held in 1928, but no champion was crowned until North Carolina won the event in 1933. In 1998, the tournament changed from an individual scoring tournament to a team format. Chattanooga currently leads the way with 12 tournament titles all-time, followed by Furman with 11 and Davidson nine. The Lady Paladins have won seven of the last eight championships, including back-to-back crowns, and will look to tie UTC for the all-time SoCon lead with its 12th title this weekend.
Western last won an opening round match in the SoCon championships back in 1998 as the ninth-seeded Catamounts defeated rival, and number eight, Appalachian State. That victory earned WCU the right to face the then top-seeded Eagles of Georgia Southern, falling 5-0. Since `98, Western has not won an opening round match, only winning two individual matches. The Catamounts are 0-4 since 1998 as the 10th seed, securing the ninth-seed in 2002 and an 11-seed the past two seasons prior to East Tennessee State's exit from the conference.
Sophomore Susanna Sjokvist is the only other Catamount with SoCon tournament experience. |
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The Catamounts are led by sophomore Trish Hanson, who since stepping on campus last fall has served as the number one in both singles and in doubles competition. This season, the Alpharetta, Ga., native won six singles matches as the top seed, scoring WCU's lone win in SoCon action, defeating Monica Tomas from Appalachian State, 6-1 and 6-2, back in late March. After losing her doubles partner, senior Katherine Ptak, to career-ending back surgery, Hanson teamed with sophomore Mariona Trilla Jane in doubles to lead the Cats with three wins at number one.
Both Western's number two and number three players finished the year with three wins apiece. Swedish born Susanna Sjokvist was WCU's number two for all but one match this season when she swapped with the predominant number three, Trilla Jane, who is from Barcelona, Spain.
Freshman Holly Stocks played all but one match as Western's number four, recording a pair of singles wins in her rookie season. Her classmate, Carley Abbott, joined the squad midway through the year, picking up a win in her first home match, defeating UNC Asheville's Isabel Carson in straight sets, 6-0.
Two matches will be played on Thursday, with action commencing with the eight-nine match-up between the eighth-seeded Elon Phoenix facing the upset-minded ninth seed, Chattanooga Lady Mocs. Western's match will follow at approximately 2:30 pm. Live scoring for each match will be made available HERE.
For more information on the SoCon women's tennis tournament, please click HERE.
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