Top Ten of 2011-12 - IIAC Women's Tennis

The Kohawk women's tennis team won the Iowa Conference Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

 

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Throughout the summer, CoeAthletics.com will look back at the top 10 individual and team performances of the year. Today we take a look at the women's tennis team's performance in the IIAC Automatic Qualifier.

During the fall regular season, the Kohawks finished 8-0 in league play, earning the number one seed in the team championships.  At the team tournament, Coe went undefeated, earning a 5-4 win over Luther in the championship match. The tournament victory gave the Kohawks home court advantage to the spring IIAC Automatic Qualifier tournament.
In the semifinal match, the Kohawks made quick work of Cornell, winning 5-0.  The stage was then set for a third dual meet with the Norse, with the rights to play in the NCAA Tournament on the line.
Coe opened doubles play against Luther with an 8-2 win at number one from junior Michelle Schupbach (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Columbus) and sophomore Tai Lucero (Odessa, Texas/Permian), as they beat Cami Czech and Katherine Howe.  Luther evened the match with an 8-4 win at number three doubles before Coe took a 2-1 lead into singles play.  Freshman Jackie Pedersen (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy) and junior Sara Ohlman (Washington, Ill./Washington) earned the Kohawks second win, as they beat Cassandra Chalhoub and Lola White-Baer 8-4.
The Kohawks needed three wins in singles play to capture the title.  Ohlman gave the Kohawks their first win, as she beat White-Baer 6-2, 6-2 at number four singles.  Schupbach followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win at number one singles against Czech before Pedersen wrapped up the dual with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Chalhoub.
Improving to 28-2 overall in singles play, Schupbach broke Coe's single-season wins record.  Teaming with Lucero, she improved to 28-2 in doubles, as the pair broke Coe's single-season wins record.  All three Kohawk doubles teams finished with 22 or more wins on the year, as they finished the year a combined 75-18.
With the win, Coe made its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and its first appearance since 2008.  In the first round of the NCAA tournament the Kohawks beat Hope College 5-4 to advance to the second round. In the second round the Kohawks lost to sixth-ranked Carnegie Mellon.
With no graduating seniors on the team, all six Kohawks are slated to return next year to defend Coe's IIAC Championship.