Colorado State University Athletics
Women's Tennis Travels to Provo
9/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 16, 2005
The CSU Women's Tennis team travels to Provo, Utah for the BYU Invitational Sept. 22-24 to begin their fall tournament play.
The Rams return five from last year's squad, including nationally ranked junior Emily Kirchem. Sophomore Anne Andersen will play her first fall season with the Rams after finishing last spring with an 18-5 record. Seniors Jessica Jones, Carla Pallares, and Jasmin Singh will provide much needed experience for the younger players. Freshmen Greer Satherlie and Lauren Strasburger will begin their collegiate career in Provo as they play teams such as the No. 22 nationally ranked BYU Cougars.
Other teams that will be at the tournament are Boise State, Weber State, Utah State, and Mountain West foe Utah. The tournament will have eight flights of singles play with the Rams filling as many spots as girls that travel.
"We use this tournament and the Air Force Tournament as an indicator as to where we are at in the fall season," Coach Jon Messick commented.
"We have no preset expectations, we are just trying to see where the girls fit in with the competition. We are hoping Emily will enhance her 120th ranking."
Junior Emily Kirchem Nationally Ranked Last week the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced preseason rankings with CSU's Emily Kirchem ranked No. 120. This is the first time Kirchem has been ranked and only the second time in school history for a national ranking.
"It's fantastic for our program; Sanja Hansson was ranked for one week, this is more significant and tougher to get," Coach Jon Messick said. "Kirchem will use this as a springboard to work to be ranked higher. She will have the opportunity to play other nationally ranked players at the BYU Inviatational and the Riviera Championships."
Ram Notes: -Junior Emily Kirchem led the team in singles play wins with a 20-11 overall singles record last season. She was 2-1 at the No. 1 position and 14-5 at the No. 2 position in dual play. -Sophomore Anne Andersen returns this season with the second highest season win percentage in CSU history with a .794 win percentage. This is also a freshman school record. She was 18-5 last season. -Colorado State tennis plays in one of the toughest conferences nationally. Five of the nine Mountain West teams are ranked nationally. The highest ranked team is conference newcomer TCU.
Players Mentioned
