Season Preview 2009-2010

Lady Tigers enter season with wealth of experience

Returning all seven members of last season’s team, which placed eighth at the national tournament, the Cowley College women’s tennis team is looking forward to big things as they head into the spring season.

Cowley head coach Josh Cobble is excited about having all seven of last year’s players return to the team for one final season.

“It’s a great thing for us this year but scary for us next year,” Cobble said.

Each one of the sophomores is a returning region champion in either singles or doubles as the team dominated last year’s Region VI championship, winning five of six singles titles and all three doubles titles.

The returnees are, Adrijana Pavlovic, Jamie Blackim, Wrylie Finkle, Natalia Medina, Brittney Laner, Jessica Montemayor, and Shannon Franz.

“They will enter this season with a lot less nerves and will come in believing they belong,” Cobble said.
Freshmen Brittney Berryman from Guthrie, OK, and Kalena Pate from Arkansas City are the only newcomers to the squad.

“Those two have blended in very well and added some new blood to the team,” Cobble said.
Cobble did not feel the team played up to its potential in the fall, but believes they will get back on track this spring.

“The fall showed us we have a ways to go, but we definitely have a good possibility to do well,” Cobble said.

One player that did fare well in the fall was Pavlovic as she placed third at the Small College Championships in Mobile, AL. Pavlovic, who is a returning All-American, will once again play No. 1 singles for the Lady Tigers and will be a formidable member on one of the squad’s doubles teams.

“I think she will have a great year if she can stay healthy,” Cobble said. “She is an extremely talented player that will set the tone for the rest of the team.”

Cowley will enter the season ranked sixth nationally. However, Cobble does not think Cowley will have it as easy as they did a year ago as Seward County and Johnson County have made big improvements from last season.

“We will have to step up, play hard, and keep improving,” Cobble said. “Our expectations are different this year. With so much experience returning we should improve on last year.”

The Lady Tigers will play a challenging schedule, which features matches against several NCAA Division II and NAIA schools.

“By playing those teams we hope to gain experience that some of the other junior college’s wont have,” Cobble said.