Women's tennis wins third straight MAC title
April 26, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- The Western Michigan University women's tennis team downed Northern Illinois, 6-1, to win their third straight Mid-American Conference title on Friday (April 20). With the win, head coach Betsy Kuhle earned her seventh MAC title as Bronco coach. That mark ties her with former volleyball coach Rob Buck for most conference titles among women's sports coaches at Western Michigan. Her seven MAC titles also places her fourth overall among all WMU coaches.
WMU completed the regular season with a record of 14-7 overall, 8-0 in the MAC. Western Michigan will now travel to Marshall University for the Mid-American Conference tournament, April 26-29.
Western Michigan also learned last Friday that the loss against Eastern Michigan on March 31 will not count against their conference record due to improper adjustments to the EMU lineup. The match previously had been thrown out by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, but the MAC did not rule on the issue until April 20.
WMU 6 Northern Illinois 1
WMU started the day by winning all three doubles matches. Larissa Chinwah and Meaghan Colville won the No. 1 match over Molly Opel and Kris Tiedt 8 -1. Nikki Thompson-Douglass and Melanie Remynse downed Tonja Sukovic and Karrie Tyioran 8-2 in the No. 2 match, while Frederika Girsang and Mariana Quintanilla won the No. 3 match over Branka Savic and Kristi McIntyre.
The Broncos took five of the six singles matches to bring home the championship. Chinwah won the No. 1 match in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 over Savic. Girsang won a three-setter over Tyioran 6-7 (6), 6-2, 1-0 (7). Remynse won her fourth straight singles match, downing Sukovic 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 4 match. Colville ran her record in the MAC to 9-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Open in the No. 5 slot. Quintanilla downed McIntyre 6-4, 6-1 in the No. 6 slot for the final Bronco victory. The only loss on the day for the Broncos was the No. 4 match, where Douglass was forced to retire due to a hamstring injury.
For more information, visit the Broncos on the Web at <www.wmubroncos.com>.
Media contact: Travis McCurdy, 616 387-3221, travis.mccurdy@wmich.edu