Early Offseason Update

Not much in the way of concrete news items stemming from the Offices of Kohawk Tennis, but rest assured, Clark Racquet Center remains a beehive of activity!

We three coaches have attended five State High School Championships, and remain diligently working daily on the details of recruiting for the upcoming classes of Fall 2012, 2013 and even 2014! Lots of Campus Visits have been scheduled, emails and phone calls made, and USTA tournament draws have been perused.

Players on both Teams have settled into their off season routines in which much time is committed to academic concerns and responsibilities. I am pleased to say that the Men have been consistently seen on court each week, and the Women have almost all returned from a brief two week hiatus following the conclusion of their successful Fall campaign.

The Racquet Center will be hosting a Campus Showdown for Men, a one day compass draw tournament co-sponsored by the USTA and ITA, on Saturday, November 5th. A similar event will be held for Women in early January 2012.

Clark Racquet Center, along with the University of Iowa were/are hosting the Men's Big 10 Individuals this weekend. Due to the absence of two of the twelve schools, it turns out our courts were not needed. This did not stop Coach Kris and I from trekking the quick 25 miles to the Hawkeye Tennis Center on Friday to observe an afternoon of Big 10 doubles, and I enjoyed it so much, I returned Saturday for five more hours of watching singles!

In other Kohawk Athletic News, both the Football team and Volleyball Team remain in contention for Iowa Conference titles. Volleyball will host the IIAC Championships on Thursday November 3rd by virtue of their undefeated, 8-0, IIAC record. Football ran their IIAC mark to 5-1, trailing 6-1 Dubuque by a half game. Coe will host Dubuque on November 5th. And in Cross Country, senior Kyle Heineman became Coe's 1st winner of the IIAC with his 8K win yesterday.

View from the Office...

Just peeking out from the tennis office, I was encouraged by the sight of many members of the men's team hitting today! Over the past week, I have also seen several Kohawks (men and women) working out here in the racquet center and am sure many more are doing so over at Eby. Keep up the good off-season work!

2011 Iowa Conference Women's Tennis Awards Announced

Coe's Schupbach Named Player of the Year, Rodgers Named Coach of the Year

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Coe College junior Michelle Schupbach (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Waterloo Columbus) has been selected Iowa Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year for the 2011 season, while Coe head coach Eric Rodgers has been selected as the 2011 Iowa Conference Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year. Both awards were voted by the Conference coaches following the Conference Championship.

Schupbach captured the Flight A singles title and teamed with 2010 IIAC Women’s Tennis MVP Tai Lucero for the Flight A doubles title at the recent Iowa Conference Individual Championships. Entering the singles tournament as the top seed, she posted three straight-set victories before weathering a stiff test from Luther’s Cami Czech in the final, eventually prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (4) to become the fourth different Coe player to capture the league’s top singles title (Molly Fiala, 2005 & 2007; Hannah Jensen, 2008; Tai Lucero, 2010). Schupbach had finished runner-up to Lucero in the Flight A singles draw at the 2010 IIAC Championships.

Schupbach and Lucero entered as the top-seeded tandem in a Flight A doubles competition that saw all three seeded teams advance to the semifinals. The Kohawk duo defeated Luther’s Cassandra Chalhoub and Elise Allen, 8-4, in the semifinals before topping the second-seeded tandem of Czech and Katy Lindstrom of Luther, 8-1, in the final. It was the second straight Flight A doubles title for Schupbach and Lucero and the third in succession for Schupbach, who also won in 2009 with older sister Andrea.

Schupbach is the third Coe student-athlete to be named Iowa Conference Player of the Year in women’s tennis, joining four-time winner Molly Fiala (2005-06-07-08) and Lucero (2010).

She posted a 19-1 singles record overall during the fall season with the only blemish coming to Laurel Krebsbach of Gustavus Adolphus in the round of 16 at the USTA/ITA Midwest Region Championship. She posted a 18-1 mark in doubles with Lucero, competing at the No. 1 position. The only defeat came at the hands of eventual champions Kalla Schaefer and Alexandra Bayliss in the quarterfinal round of the Midwest Regional.

Rodgers guided Coe to a 13-0 mark during the fall season, including a perfect 8-0 record in IIAC play. The Kohawks posted a 5-1 semifinal win over No. 4-seed Wartburg before outlasting No. 2-seed and defending champion Luther, 5-4, in the Championship final to give Coe its fourth IIAC title in women’s tennis. This marks the fourth time Rodgers had been named IIAC Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year (2006-2008). He is also a three-time IIAC Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year (2003-2005).

The Conference previously announced the 2011 All-Iowa Conference Women’s Tennis Team in conjunction with the individual tournament. The quarterfinalists in Flight A singles and semifinalists in Flight A doubles are recognized as All-Conference.

The All-Conference Team was also released, which includes Schupbach (singles and doubles), sophomore Tai Lucero (singles and doubles) and first year Jordan Ferree (singles).

Fall Wrap!

Both of the Coe College Tennis Teams had outstanding Fall seasons highlighted by the Women's Team capturing their 4th IIAC title, and first since 2008.

Michelle and Tai picked up more individual honors by capturing the2011 singles and doubles titles. Michelle won her 3rd doubles title and 1st singles title. Tai, the 2010 IIAC MVP, won her 2nd doubles title to go along with her 2010 singles championship.

Michelle Schupbach

Tai Lucero

The Men added on impressive individual performances also winning 4 of the 5 flights in the Iowa Conference Individual Tournament. Noah Sprinkel opened his Kohawk career in fine form winning the A flight singles, and teaming with Curtis Newman to add the A flight doubles. The duo teamed a week later to advance to the finals of the ITA Regional in Minnesota. Scott Kleymann added a C Flight singles title and Jeff Damisch and Mike Woolf paired for the B Doubles title. Victor Khristenko advanced to the ITA Regional round of 16 for the 2nd consecutive year.

Curtis Newman & Noah Sprinkel

Michelle & Tai are Champs!

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Junior Michelle Schupbach won the Flight A Singles title and teamed with sophomore Tai Lucero to win their second-straight Flight A Doubles title at the Iowa Conference Championships.

Schupbach, the top seed in Flight A Singles, advanced to the championship match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Luther's Cassandra Chalhoub. In the finals, she defeated second-seeded Cami Czech of Luther 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (4). She became the fourth different Kohawk to win the Flight A Singles title, joining Molly Fiala in 2005 & 2007, Hannah Jensen in 2008 and doubles partner Tai Lucero last season.

In Flight A Doubles, Schupbach won the title for the third-straight year. After winning it with her older sister Andrea in 2009, she won it with Lucero last year and this year. In the semifinals, Lucero and Schupbach beat Luther's Elise Allen and Chalhoub 8-4. They then faced second-seeded Czech and Katy Lindstrom of Luther, coming away with an 8-1 victory.

Photo from Conference Championships

Another photo from Saturday's IIAC Championships, this of the ladies' warm-up at Vets prior to the Wartburg match -- still learning to use my camera's many functions, but luckily was able to create this neat image with a "diorama" digital art filter effect. The rest of the photos and videos will be up on facebook/youtube later today.

Kohawks topple Luther for IIAC Crown

The Coe College Women's Tennis team defeated Wartburg College 5-1 in the semifinals and topped defending champion Luther College 5-4 yesterday to capture their 4th Iowa Conference title. A very nice present for #1 player Michelle Schupbach as she turned 21! Tai Lucero clinched the 5th point in the championship match at #2 singles. The Kohawks added points at #1 and #2 doubles, and wins by #1 Michelle Schupbach and #4 Jackie Pedersen.


Coe College 5, Wartburg College 1
Oct 08, 2011 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Veterans Memorial Tennis Center)

Singles competition

1. Michelle Schupbach (COE) def. Lindsay Greiner (WAR) 6-0, 6-1

2. Tai Lucero (COE) def. Claire Evans (WAR) 6-0, 6-2

3. Sara Ohlman (COE) vs. Jenny Dallenbach (WAR) 7-6, 1-2, unfinished

4. Jackie Pedersen (COE) vs. Leanna Jenkins (WAR) 7-5, 5-0, unfinished

5. Jordan Ferree (COE) vs. Jessica Behrer (WAR) 3-6, 1-5, unfinished

6. Elizabeth Hoffmann (COE) def. Brita Jensen (WAR) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. Michelle Schupbach/Tai Lucero (COE) def. Lindsay Greiner/Jenny Dallenbach (WAR) 8-0

2. Claire Evans/Leanna Jenkins (WAR) def. Sara Ohlman/Jackie Pedersen (COE) 9-8 (8-6)

3. Jordan Ferree/Elizabeth Hoffmann (COE) def. Jessica Behrer/Brita Jensen (WAR) 8-2

Coe College 5, Luther College 4
Oct 08, 2011 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Veterans Memorial Tennis Center)

Singles competition

1. Michelle Schupbach (COE) def. Cami Czech (LUT) 6-2, 6-0

2. Tai Lucero (COE) def. Cassandra Chalhoub (LUT) 6-1, 6-3

3. Elise Allen (LUT) def. Sara Ohlman (COE) 7-5, 6-2

4. Jackie Pedersen (COE) def. Katy Lindstrom (LUT) 6-1, 6-0

5. Lola White-Baer (LUT) def. Jordan Ferree (COE) 6-0, 6-0

6. Katherine Howe (LUT) def. Elizabeth Hoffmann (COE) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1

Doubles competition

1. Michelle Schupbach/Tai Lucero (COE) def. Cami Czech/Cassandra Chalhoub (LUT) 8-3

2. Sara Ohlman/Jackie Pedersen (COE) def. Elise Allen/Katy Lindstrom (LUT) 8-2

3. Lola White-Baer/Katherine Howe (LUT) def. Jordan Ferree/Elizabeth Hoffmann (COE) 8-1

Saturday's two victories also provided an early milestone for Head Coach Eric Rodgers as they were the 599th and 600th wins of his 27 year coaching career. Coe has now won 15 conference titles in school history, all coming since the Men's team upset 8 time defending champion Ripon College in the Spring of 1993. The first Women's title followed soon after in the Fall of 1993. since joining the IIAC in 1998, Coe has captured 6 Men's titles to go along with the 4 women's titles

Women's IIAC Team Tournament Schedule

End of Season Standings:

1. Coe (8-0)

2. Luther (7-1)

3. Cornell (6-2)

4. Wartburg (5-3)

5. Central (4-4)

6. Simpson (3-5)

7. Buena Vista (2-6)

8. Dubuque (1-7)

9 Loras (0-8)

Schedule – All matches will be played to decision.

Friday, October 7

First Round

#6 Simpson vs. #3 Cornell, 6 p.m., at Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex, Iowa City

#5 Central vs. #4 Wartburg, 6 p.m., at Clark Racquet Center, Cedar Rapids

Saturday, October 8

(All Saturday play outdoors will be held at Veterans Memorial Tennis Center, Cedar Rapids)

Semifinals

Simpson/Cornell winner vs. #2 Luther, 9 a.m.

Central/Wartburg winner vs. #1 Coe, 9 a.m.

Place matches

Fifth place: Begins ASAP following the first completed semifinal

Third place, 12:30 p.m.

Championship, 12:30 p.m.

Men's ITA / Women (and Emmie) against Cornell!

Curtis and Noah were topped in the Doubles Final by GAC's top pair in a 3rd set breaker. Congratulations to the two of them for a tournament well played, and in essence, falling just a few points short of a Nationals appearance. I have no doubt they (and the rest of the Kohawk men) will put their time in on court during the off-season to come back even stronger in the Spring!

Pictures from the ITA on our Facebook page.

The women took to the courts today in Mount Vernon, IA. With a 7-2 win over Cornell, Coe completed regular season Conference play with an 8-0 record. That places Coe as the top seed in this weekend's Team Tournament. Details to follow.

A last minute addition, Emmie Diehl was called up to compete against the Rams today. Upon entering their recreation building to use the restroom, she stated, "I don't like that mean thing on the wall (the Cornell Ram); they should put a Kohawk there." :)

Men's ITA / Parent Appreciation Day!

Curtis and Noah through to the Finals at the Regional ITA with wins over top seeded UWW and 4th seeded UWL en route.

Mike Woolf also had a win over the top player from UWW in consolation play. Rumor has it Woolfey (sophomore) was given control of the radio station in the van (over junior Curtis, and first-year Noah). Good luck tomorrow boys!

Back home, the Women topped Wartburg 8-1 and Saint Ambrose 9-0. It was Parent Appreciation Day in the Racquet Center. The ladies decorated pumpkins for their parents whilst the program took care of both breakfast and lunch for parents, alumni and our loyal fan base! Per Coach Rodgers' suggestion, we grilled out in between matches. All enjoyed!

Check out the Coe College Tennis Facebook page to see Lindsay Greiner (of Wartburg) chasing a squirrel off the court today!

Men's ITA / Mixed Doubles

8 of our men and 2 coaches traveled North to compete in the ITA's. Tournament website: https://gustavus.edu/athletics/mt/archives/2012/2011MWR/home.php
Victor Khristenko is through to the Round of 16 in singles, as is Curtis Newman and Noah Sprinkel in doubles. Back home, 6 men and women took to the Mixed Doubles Court. Jordan and Sean took the title in a championship breaker. Honorable mention goes to 2nd place finishers, Doug and Jackie. Pictures below and on our Facebook page!