Jan. 2, 2008
New Years greetings from University of Chicago Women’s Tennis!
As we begin to kick off our 2008 season, I want to take a moment to update you on the women’s program.
Our nontraditional season started off on a high note this fall when we captured both regional titles at the Central Region championships held at DePauw University in late September. Marissa Lin (sophomore - Irvine, Calif.) won the singles title and teamed with Vindya Dayananda (junior - Khatmandu, Nepal) to claim the doubles crown.
By winning the regional championship both Marissa and Vindya earned All-American honors for the season and entry into the ITA Small College Championships which were held in Mobile, Ala. in October. For the second time in three years Vindya has earned NCAA All-America honors; this is Marissa’s first All-Americn award.
In Alabama, Marissa took third in singles out of a field of eight regional winners; Marissa and Vindya finished fourth in doubles. Marissa pushed the eventual singles champion to three sets in the semi-finals while she and Vindya took the eventual doubles winner to three sets as well. Last year, both Marissa and Vindya reached the semifinals in singles of the regional tournament.
Another standout at our regional tournament was Chrissy Hu (first year, Palo Alto, Calif.) who reached the round of 16 in singles. She paired with second year Justine Kentla (Palatine, Ill.) to advance to the quarterfinals, while in route took out the #5 seeds from Washington (Mo.) 6-0, 6-1.
The team went 3-0 in dual match play during the fall season. Our most impressive win came against Olivet Nazarenne (#19 in NAIA) on Sept. 26. After falling behind 2-1 after doubles, we rallied back against the 12-0 Tigers by winning quickly at #1, #2 and #3 singles position before Justin Kentla pulled out a close 6-3, 7-5 win at #4 to clinch the match.
We kick off our dual match season on Friday. January 25 at 7 p.m. when we take on South Side neighbor Chicago State at Ballys on 47th St. The remainder of our schedule includes key match-ups against Northern Illinois; Kalamazoo; Kenyon; Denison; Wash U.; Carthage; DePauw; Oberlin; and Wheaton.
We will also take part in the Midwest Invitational Tournament, which will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in early April. At this event we will play four matches against teams ranked in the top 12 in the region. We will be traveling to Hilton Head, S.C. for our spring trip from March 22-29. The UAA tournament will be held in St. Louis during the third weekend in April.
Thank you for keeping up with the program and we wish you and your family a Happy New Year!
Rankings and Record
- 3-0 Team Record after Fall Season
- Team Ranked #19 Nationally & #5 in the Central Region
- Marissa Lin Ranked #2 in Central Region – Singles
- Vindya Dayananda Ranked #9 in Central Region – Singles
- Chrissy Hu Ranked #31 in Central Region – Singles
- Lin/Dayananda Ranked #2 in Central Region – Doubles
- Hu/Kentla Ranked #11 in Central Region - Doubles
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