2016 SLIAC Women's Tennis Tournament Preview
Posted: Apr 26, 2016

2016 SLIAC Women's Tennis Tournament Preview

The Tournament
The third spring championship for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) will take place this weekend as teams gather to play in the 2016 SLIAC Women's Tennis Tournament at Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis, Mo. Blackburn College, Fontbonne University, Greenville College, Principia College, Webster University and Westminster College will all take the courts in search of the 2016 title.

There will be a total of five matches on Friday and two matches on Saturday. Friday will start at 11 a.m. with Westminster vs. Fontbone and Greenville vs. Blackburn. Round two on that day will see the top two seeds, Webster and Principia, in action against the winners of the first round of matches at 2 p.m. In addition the fifth place match will take place at the same time on Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday will feature both the Championship Match and the Third Place Match with a start time of 11 a.m.

BLACKBURN COLLEGE 'BEAVERS'

Blackburn went 2-10 overall this year, finishing 1-4 in SLIAC play. The Beavers finished fifth last year, their second straight fifth place finish in the tournament. Gariel Pearce leads the team with three singles wins this season, all coming at the #3 spot. Danielle Koskie and Elizabeth Orr each have two singles wins as well this year. In doubles competition the team of Megan Isringhausen and Koskie are tied with the team of Orr and Pearce with a team high two wins.

FONTBONNE UNIVERSITY 'GRIFFINS'

Fontbonne will be looking to do something for the first time in program history, place in the SLIAC Tournament. The Griffins toatled seven singles wins this season, including four during conference play. Of those four conference wins Mariana Rogers accounted for two of them at #1 singles. Celeste Herrmann and Bailey Benes also picked up SLIAC singles victories. The Griffins used numerous doubles teams this spring but it was the team of Rogers and Hannah Edmundson that worked the most together, going 2-5.

GREENVILLE COLLEGE 'PANTHERS'

Greenville will be the #4 seed in the tournament, going 2-3 this spring in the SLIAC. The Panthers picked up 23 singles wins this season, going 13-17 in SLIAC play. Emily Rauch led the team with 10 wins from the #5 and #6 spots while #1 player Lexi Baysinger added four singles victories. The top doubles team of Baysinger and Anna Brannon finished 4-6 this spring as the Panthers went 12-21 overall in doubles play this season and 7-8 during conference play.

PRINCIPIA COLLEGE 'PANTHERS'

Principia comes into the tournament as the #2 seed in search of extending their conference record 18 tournament titles. The Panthers went 55-45 overall in singles action this season, dominated by #1 player Paige Cooley. Cooley was 17-1 in singles play this season including 15-0 during conference action. Anh Vu added eight singles wins while last year's SLIAC Player of the Year Hanne Andersen finished 5-0 at #2 singles. The top doubles team of Cooley and Caitlin Carney finished with a team high nine wins as the Panthers went 24-25 overall in doubles play this season.

WEBSTER UNIVERSITY 'GORLOKS'

Webster will be looking to do something only one other program has done in SLIAC history, win two straight SLIAC tournament titles. The Gorloks went undefeated in conference play during the regular season for the second straight year and come in with a 14-9 overall mark. The Gorloks went 76-58 in singles play this season with four different player recording double digit wins. Monica Behrle led the way with 15 wins at #1 singles while Kaylen Kress and Sara Rice each added 14 wins. The #3 doubles team of Stephanie Lass and Jesse Steffens-Willis led Webster with nine doubles victories this year.

WESTMINSTER COLLEGE 'BLUE JAYS'

The #3 seed of the tournament, Westminster is just one of three programs in SLIAC history to win a tournament title; their last coming in 2009. The Blue Jays enter this tournament with a 17-12 singles record during SLIAC play this season. Kelsey Gerlach led the Blue Jays with five singles wins, going 4-1 in the SLIAC. Jessica Klutts and Laural Royer each added four singles wins. On the doubles side Sydney Attebery and Klutts and Laura Kelly and Jamie Striler led the team with three wins on the year.