March 13, 2007

By Ryan Shaw
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois women's tennis team begins a three-match road trip today when they travel to Charleston, S.C. to take on Charleston Southern at 2 p.m. today.

The Salukis Spring Break trip also includes matches against College of Charleston tomorrow at noon and UNC-Wilmington on Friday at 10 a.m.

SIU's first opponent, Charleston Southern, boasts a 6-2 record on the season and is led by Meryan Tazi and Patricia Jaeger. Both Tazi and Jaeger hold 7-1 singles records on the season. The two also pair up for doubles play and are the owners of a 3-2 record as a team. Leading the Buccaneers in doubles play are Zineb Hilail and Lina Benkirane with a 5-3 record.

On Wednesday the Salukis will take on the College of Charleston Cougars, who hold a 6-1 record for the season. Amanda Becker and Laura Borza lead the Cougars on the singles courts with season records of 5-1. On the doubles courts, the pair of Holly Dowse and Anna Lee Evans possess a 5-1 record.

The Salukis will head north to Cary, N.C. on Friday to face UNC-Wilmington. The Seahawks are 11-4 on the season and are led by Cassie Martin in singles with a 10-2 record. On the doubles courts Kayla Schwenk and Lauren Isenhour are 10-1 on the season.

SIU head coach Rene Vidal believes that the competition will be stiff, but that the matches will help the Salukis improve and become a better team.

"We are looking forward to the upcoming competition," said Vidal. "We are focused on making improvements from practice to practice and match to match. The team is a work in progress and we are on the right track at this point in the season. It should be a great trip."

Results and recaps can be found at www.siussalukis.com following the conclusion of each match.