Colorado State University Athletics
CSU tennis team receives two regional rankings
1/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 6, 2009
By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – CSU senior Lauren Strasburger was ranked No. 28 in the Central Region, and the doubles team of juniors Laura Neal and Anette Pohjalainen were No. 10, in the first regional rankings of the 2009 spring season, announced Tuesday by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
“It is always important for us to try to get some regional rankings as a springboard to getting into the national rankings,” said Head Coach Jon Messick. “If we aren’t ranked in the region, we wouldn’t have a chance to get ranked nationally.”
Strasburger, the team’s top returning player who hails from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the first Rams singles player ranked since Emily Kirchem finished the 2007 season as the No. 15 player in the region.
Neal and Pohjalainen, meanwhile, extend the Rams’ streak of seasons with a ranked doubles team to four. The duo follows ranked tandems Strasburger and Hilary Tyler (2008), Kirchem and Tyler (2007) and Kirchem and Anne Andersen (2006).
Messick thought the rankings were significant because the Rams had some injuries this past fall that held them back to some degree. Strasburger and Neal were sidelined much of the fall.
“To see Lauren and Laura in the rankings shows that, when healthy, we have the potential to do well in the region and nationally,” Messick said. “Last year we didn’t have anyone ranked in the region in singles at year’s end, so I think it is a good sign that we had a ranked player in the fall. And, I think Neal is close to being ranked in singles.”
For a complete list of the ITA’s Central Region rankings:
