Belles bring home first-ever MIAA championship
Katie McVoy
Associate Sports Editor
It was a small but lively crowd that greeted the Saint Mary's tennis team on a Monday night when most students were studying for finals. The 15 members of the tennis team were all smiles as they entered an Angela Athletic Facility rally held in their honor to accept the first ever Saint Mary's MIAA title.
By a margin of five points, the Belles defeated defending champion Hope College and brought home the MIAA Women's Tennis conference championship to make history at Saint Mary's.
"I am extremely proud and I still can't believe we accomplished that," junior co-captain Annie Knish said. "Coach promised me we would have a conference championship before I graduated and I never believed him until the tournament."
The seven women who traveled to Kalamazoo, Mich. to play each came home with a medal as the Belles claimed four singles titles and two doubles titles, along with one third place finish each at singles and doubles.
"The hard work [the team] put into tennis all year, the work in the winter when they went six or seven weeks without playing anyone but each other, that hard work at that point when they played the matches really paid off," head coach Dee Stevenson said.
The doubles teams were the staple of the Saint Mary's team this season, and proved to be so again during the MIAA tournament. All three teams took home a medal.
"I'm very proud of them," Knish said. "They worked together and made great improvements over the season."
Leading doubles were senior Natalie Cook and junior Annie Knish, co-captains who took home the No. 1 doubles championship. Cook also claimed a third place finish in No. 2 singles.
Hope, a familiar adversary, was the final obstacle for the team of Knish and Cook. The Flying Dutch defeated the Albion team that was Saint Mary's No. 1 double's only loss all season before facing off against the Belles. It was a close match, but Knish and Cook came out on top 2-1 (6-4, 5-7, 6-2).
"[Natalie] and Annie winning No. 1 doubles when few people thought they could was a big inspiration," Stevenson said. "We had to win every [championship] match, including the one they did, to win the tournament."
The Knish-Cook team, who were defeated only once in conference play this season, took an easy first round win on the way to the championship, defeating Alma 2-0 (6-1, 6-0).
In the semifinal round, Knish and Cook faced off against a Calvin team that appeared to be an easy target. They took the first set 6-3, but Calvin came back to take a 6-4 victory in set two, tying up the match.
Cook and Knish were not willing to leave Kalamazoo without a championship, and came back to claim a solid 6-1 victory in set three, guaranteeing them a spot in the championship round they won.
"The combination of being focused and having a goal, along with having a good time as friends and partners was what helped us win that championship," Knish said.
The No. 3 doubles team of sophomores Elisa Ryan and Trisha Jones also took home a championship. They remained undefeated in the MIAA, cleaning up a Hope team with a 2-0 victory (6-4, 6-3). The team dropped only one set in its climb to the championship, losing set two to Albion 6-2.
Freshmen Jeannie Knish and Kaitlin Cutler wrapped up solid doubles play with a third place finish in No. 2 doubles after losing to Calvin in the semi-finals. A solid 2-0 (6-0,6-0) victory over Alma in the consolation round claimed the third place finish.
It was the Saint Mary's freshmen who ruled the courts in singles play. All three women playing their first year of college tennis came home with a championship.
"I have to give a lot of credit to the freshmen who came [this season]," Annie Knish said. "They added a lot to our team."
Kaitlin Cutler finished off a perfect season with a perfect final tournament. Cutler, who had not lost one set in MIAA play all season, continued that impressive record at the Kalamazoo tournament.
She claimed the No. 4 singles championship in six sets, giving up a total of four points to opposing players. Hope's Jennifer Coleman took only two points in the second set of the championship round as Cutler defeated her 2-0.
Joining Cutler as freshmen champions were Jeannie Knish at No. 3 singles and Kris Spriggle at No. 5 singles. Knish took the championship round from Calvin, winning 2-0 (6-2, 6-2). Spriggle wrapped up an undefeated season with a 2-0 victory in the championship round (6-1, 6-0) over Albion's Kristen Roskam.
Ryan completed singles wins with a No. 6 singles victory, defeating her opponents by no less than five points in each set. A final 2-0 victory (6-1, 6-0) over Hope's Dee Clouse wrapped up the sophomore's first No. 6 singles victory.
Annie Knish and Cook made first team All-MIAA while Jeannie Knish and Cutler found themselves on All-MIAA second team. Topping off the weekend tournament was the presentation of the Sue Little Sportsmanship Award to Cook.
Athletic director Lynn Kachmarik led the rally to welcome home the team last Monday. She presented each player with her championship medal and congratulated all 15 members of the team who have been supporting the varsity team.
Cook will be the only graduating senior as a strong team returns for the 2002 season.
All Sports Stories for Friday, May 18, 2001
