Feb. 5, 2004
The Lady Tiger tennis team (0-1) will take to the road in search of its first win of the season and for its first C-USA regular season match-up when the Lady Tigers face Saint Louis University and non-conference foe Butler over the weekend. The Lady Tiger road trip will start with a 2:30 contest against Butler, Friday, and will follow with a Saturday match against C-USA's Saint Louis at 9 a.m., Saturday.
Memphis dropped its season opener, 5-2, to a senior-laden Tennessee Tech team. The Lady Tigers, with just two second-year seniors on the roster, will be looking to get into the win column for the first time this season, but will have their hands full against Butler, a member of the Horizon league. Butler finished with a 6-1 mark in league play last year, finishing second, and posting an overall mark of 13-11. The Bulldogs are off to a 1-2 start, and have already fallen to one C-USA opponent, falling 7-0 at Louisville in their season opener. Butler bounced back with a 6-1 win over cross-town rival IUPUI, before falling at Miami (Ohio), 7-0.
About Butler
Senior Christina Laun is 1-2 at No. 1 singles, picking up her first win 6-4, 5-7, 11-9, in the win over IUPUI. Laun is also playing No. 1 doubles for Butler, teaming with sophomore Alaina Griffin for a 1-2 mark. Griffin is 1-2 at No. 2 singles for the season as well. Sophomore Tayo Bailey has played No. 3 singles through the first three matches, including a tough three-set loss, 7-6, 2-6, 10-5, in the Miami loss. The top three singles matches against Miami were all tough three set losses, while the No. 1 doubles match went against Butler, but only by a score of 9-7.
Senior Laurle Clements has played NO. 4 singles for Butler in the first three matches, while senir Annie Gantz has played two of the three matches at No. 5 singles, while freshman Shaden Dowaitt played at No. 5 against IUPUI. Dowaitt played No. 6 in the other two singles matches for Butler.
About Saint Louis
The Billikens of Saint Louis are off to a 1-4 start to their 2004 season after two difficult weekends on the road to open their season. SLU, which will open their home stand with a Friday match against Butler at 7 p.m., will face the Lady Tigers at 9 a.m, Saturday.
Saint Louis' one win was a 4-3 win over Louisiana Tech, and the Billikens have fallen to UALR, No. 70 Arkansas, No. 50 Tulsa and Southwest Missouri State.
The Billikens have some impact freshmen on their 2004 roster, including Amanda Hellberg, who is playing No. 1 singles and doubles for the Billikens. Hellberg already has a 3-2 mark at No. 1 singles, and is 2-3 at No. 1 doubles. Fellow freshman Katerina Lozanova is playing at the No. 2 spot. The Sofia, Bulgaria, native is 2-3 at No. 2 singles and is Hellberg's teammate at No. 1 doubles.
Freshman Ana Renda rounds out Jonathan Zych's line-up at No. 3 singles. Renda is 2-3 at No. 3 singles and is teaming with senior Melissa Cutler at No. 2 singles, where the duo is 1-4. Cutler is playing No. 4 singles, while sophomore Lindsay Winninger has moved to the No. 5 slot in the line-up while senior Rebecca Steer is filling in the No. 6 spot in the line-up. The combination of talented newcomers facing the Lady Tiger's returning players and the Billiken experienced players versus the Lady Tiger freshmen will be something to watch in the C-USA opener for both teams.
About the Lady Tigers
Marlene Dirnstorfer
Dirnstorfer picked up Memphis' only singles win against Tennessee Tech in the Lady Tigers' season opener, winning at No. 1 singles 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. Dirnstorfer also teamed with fellow senior Viktoria Gruber to win at No. 1 doubles, 8-5.
Viktoria Gruber
Gruber played a tough match at No. 2 singles against TTU, falling 7-5, 6-4. Gruber and Dirnstorfer are both within reach of their 25th career singles wins in their second year at Memphis. Dirnstorfer needs two wins to hit the 25-win mark, while Gruber needs just one more win.
Andrea Feichtinger
With 29 career singles wins, Feichtinger is the Lady Tiger on the current roster with the most career wins, a testament to how young this year's team really is. Feichtinger has moved up to No. 3 singles after playing No. 6 last year. The sophomore dropped her season opener, 6-3, 1-6, 0-6. Feichtinger also teamed with freshman Alex Tjioe to win their No. 2 doubles match. Tjioe will be a new doubles partner for Feichtinger, who played with all her doubles matches with Gruber last year. With the graduation of three seniors, that doubles team was broke up to allow Gruber to play No. 1 doubles with Dirnstorfer, while Feichtinger works with Tjioe out of the No. 2 spot this year.
Kristin Noble
The only Memphis-area player on the roster, Noble has moved to the No. 4 spot in the Lady Tiger line-up after playing sparingly in a deep Lady Tiger roster last year. Noble dropped her season opener against TTU, 6-3, 6-3, and teamed with freshman Christina Wieser at No. 3 doubles, falling 8-2.
Alex Tjioe
Freshman Alex Tjioe ran into a bit of a buzz saw against TTU, facing Lucie Barney at No. 5 singles and falling 6-0, 6-0 to a player that will probably be playing in the top two singles of the TTU lineup before the end of the year, but who was moved to the No. 5 spot for both team's season opener. Tjioe is 1-0 in doubles, having won at No. 2 doubles, 8-5, when teamed with Feichtinger.
Christina Wieser
Fellow freshman Christina Wieser also fell in her season opener, falling 7-5, 6-2 at No. 6 singles and 8-2 when teamed with Noble at No. 3 doubles. With just six players on the Lady Tiger roster for the season-opening match, the Lady Tigers did not have much depth and were trying to compete with Noble recovering from the flu.
Yesica Ares
The bit of the unknown for the Lady Tigers' opponents this weekend will be freshman Yesica Ares. Ares, who had visa problems and did not get into the country until after the Tennessee Tech match, is expected to play somewhere in the Lady Tigers' line-up, giving Memphis some much-needed depth in case of injury, but meaning that the Lady Tiger roster consists of two seniors (who are both in their second season at Memphis), no juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen.
This weekend's matches will all be played at the Sunset Tennis Center located at 10911 Gravois Industrial Court in Sunset Hills, Missouri.
