Belles make first trip to NCAA
By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Senior Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS
The national stage proved harder than conference competition for the Belles tennis team, which fell in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tennis tournament last weekend.
Saint Mary's earned its bid for the national tournament after clinching its second consecutive MIAA title earlier this month. The team, which won the first conference title in school history in 2001, is also the first team from Saint Mary's to qualify for any NCAA tournament.
But the national tournament wasn't as kind to the Belles as the conference championship, as they struggled from the onset of competition, losing to Denison University 7-2.
"Obviously, I'm not pleased," said Saint Mary's head coach Dee Stevenson. "I like to win. We didn't come here to lose."
The No. 2 doubles team of Kaitlin Cutler and Elisa Ryan won the first match of the day for Saint Mary's, defeating Allison Lesnett and Kristen Hanto 8-1. Ryan also walked away with a victory in the singles competition, when Hanto deferred after the third set.
"We would have liked to walk away with a `W,'" said senior Annie Knish, who dropped both No. 1 singles and doubles matches in the competition. "I think we all wanted to advance to the second round."
Denison, ranked 19th nationally, fell 7-2 in the second round of the tournament Saturday to Washington University, who will advance to the final round of national competition this weekend.
But while the Belles left the court without a victory, they couldn't erase the euphoria of being the first team from the school to compete in the national tournament.
For senior Knish, she remembered laughing at Stevenson three years ago when he said making it to the tournament was his goal. At his first practice, Stevenson took out a list and read to the team three goals: beat Hope, win conference, and make it to the NCAA tournament. For a team that hadn't yet beat MIAA powerhouse Hope, those goals seemed far off.
The Belles secured the nomination following the second conference title, but a berth in the tournament was never a guarantee during the season.
The Belles defeated two Division I schools at the Midwest Invitational earlier in the season, and that may have propelled them into the national spotlight.
"We got in there and proved we really belonged," Stevenson said. "I think we caught a few people's eyes."
Still, there is no exact science to the nominations, and the Belles could only sit back and wait after winning the MIAA crown.
Stevenson found out one day after the MIAA tournament, and the team announced their nomination at a school pep rally last Monday.
"I knew we had a chance," Stevenson said. "It's a political decision, so you can never be quite sure. But I knew we had a shot to get the invite before I got the call."
"I'm thrilled with the way the team has progressed," Knish said. "Coming in my freshman year, we had an okay team, but didn't place that high in conference. This is a great note to end on."
While Knish will graduate Saturday, sister Jeannie Knish, Kaitlin Cutler, Kris Spriggle, Elise Ryan and Angela Sander and hope to make a return trip to the tournament next year, and Stevenson will work on recruiting Division I-caliber players well into the summer, he said.
"We're happy to be here, to represent the school," Stevenson said. "It's something to build on for the future."
All Sports Stories for Friday, May 17, 2002
