June 4, 2007

DALLAS (SMU) - While the season may be over, the honors keep rolling in for the SMU women's tennis team. The final FILA/ITA national rankings are out and SMU finished the season ranked 57th and the doubles tandem of Natalia Bubien and Claire Rietsch were rated 58th. Regionally, SMU was sixth and Bubien and Rietsch were ninth.

The national doubles ranking for Bubien and Rietsch is the highest for an SMU pair since 1997, when Patricia Zerdan and Renee Greyvensteyn were ranked 35th.

"Nat and Claire set a goal from the very beginning that they wanted to be nationally ranked by the end of the season," said Head Coach Lauren Longbotham. "They never gave up on that goal and worked as a team to achieve a 19-9 overall record. I am very proud of their perseverance and know that the best is yet to come from these two."

The team ranking comes on the heels of a season in which the Mustangs finished 19-5 and posted their highest winning percentage since 1977. SMU had three singles players - Jennifer Chay, Bubien and Rietsch - and one doubles squad - Bubien and Rietsch - named All-C-USA. The team excelled in the classroom as well, as they had four Academic Medal Winners, six Commissioner's Honor Roll Winners and one member of the C-USA All-Academic Team.

SMU also had three players ranked in singles in the Southwest region, as Bubien, Chay and Pavi Francis were rated 28th, 29th and 30th, respectively.

"I am so proud of what this young team has accomplished this year and how each player has grown," said Longbotham. "It is amazing how just one year of experience can elevate a player's game to the next level and our number one goal for next year is to prove that SMU tennis is a force to be reckoned with on a national level."