Belles look forward to 2000 season
By NELLIE WILLIAMS
Sports Writer
After eight undefeated spring break matches in Hilton Head, S.C.; the Saint Mary's tennis team is ready to dominate this season.
First-year coach Dee Stevenson did not know what to expect last week.
"I knew we had a pretty decent team and I knew that playing two Division I teams and a Division II team would be tough matches," Stevenson said.
Not only did the team beat both the Division I and Division II schools, it also won the other five matches it competed in.
Co-captains Katy Vales and Becky Kremer were very encouraged with last week's results.
"I felt our team pulled out a lot of big wins last week," Kremer said. "We proved to ourselves and to others that we are going to be a tough team to beat."
Vales was very impressed with the performance of some of the younger players.
"We have a lot of depth with our [nine] freshmen," Vales said. "The freshmen really stepped up."
Stevenson, who did not want to cut any players, has a team composed of nine freshman, four sophomores, one junior, and three seniors. Already, 30 incoming freshmen have expressed interest in joining the team next year.
Vales thinks the selection of Stevenson, who has never coached tennis before, is a good one. Despite not coaching, he has played tennis all his life, though, including a stint on Notre Dame's tennis team.
"[Stevenson] has done a lot to add to the program here," Vales said. "All four years I have played here, I've had a new coach. I can tell [Stevenson] will be here a while."
Team members say they are looking forward to reaching the goals it set for the season.
"One of my goals is just to enjoy my final year playing tennis at Saint Mary's," Kremer said. "I also want to beat the teams that we lost to last year, especially the conference matches against Hope and Albion."
"We want to win our conference," Stevenson said. "Also, we would want to qualify for the NCA region tournament —they only take eight teams out of the Midwest. Our biggest goal, though, is to have fun."
The Belles' next matches are at home on Saturday against Adrian College and Aquinas College.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, March 22, 2000
