By: by Mark Toma
MACON, Ga. – The Kennesaw State women’s tennis team was picked to finish in sixth place as the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Tennis Preseason Coaches’ Poll was released last week.
"Preseason rankings are certainly interesting and I appreciate where we were picked by the other coaches in the A-Sun,” said head women’s coach Brandon Padgett. “However, our goal as a team is to make a serious statement in the A-Sun this year and we are talented enough to do just that."
The Owls finished with 66 points, only four points behind Jacksonville for fifth place. Stetson received the most points with 114 and also had the most first place votes with six. ETSU was second with 107 points and three first place votes.
"Our youth will be a factor this season as we have no seniors on the team,” added Padgett. “But, this group is very talented."
Last season, Kennesaw State (11-9, 6-3 A-Sun) finished in fifth place in the conference, just two games behind Stetson and ETSU who tied for first place.
"At the end of the season we certainly hope that we can finish higher in the conference then we did last season,” sommented Padgett. “But, our ultimate goal is to make a significant impact on the conference tournament. If we can manage to stay healthy, it could be a very interesting season."
The Owls return their top player in Vera Shkundina, an all-conference selection last season, who was the fourth best singles player in the conference, finishing last season with a 15-4 record at No. 1 singles as well as returning a healthy Ayano Tanaka, who struggled with injuries last season while still being one of the most solid players at No. 2 in the A-Sun.
In addition, the Black and Gold return the conference’s second best player at No. 5 singles in Agatha Palider and Mackenzie Swindall who was 11-2 at No. 6 singles last season.
Kennesaw State will open up the spring season on Saturday, Jan. 23 when they travel to Alabama to play the Auburn Tigers at 12:00 p.m. cst.
2009-10 Atlantic Sun Conference
Women's Tennis - Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rank, School (First-Place Votes), Points
1. Stetson (6) 114
2. ETSU (3) 107
3. UNF (1) 99
4. USC Upstate (1) 90
5. Jacksonville 70
6. Kennesaw State 66
7. Campbell 59
8. FGCU 51
9. Mercer 30
10. Belmont 26
11. Lipscomb 14
Tournament Champion
Stetson (7 Votes)
Preseason Player of the Year
Yevgeniya Stupak, ETSU
