'Roos to Face a Pair of Nationally Ranked Opponents in Weekend Road Trip
2/20/2014 3:51:00 PM | Women's Tennis
THIS WEEK
The Kansas City women's tennis team (3-5) will continue its road swing with three matches this weekend against Washington State, Idaho, and Lewis-Clark State.
THE OPPONENTS
Washington State is 10-1 overall and ranked No. 59 in the nation. They have won eight in a row, including wins over two nationally ranked opponents during that span. This will be the first ever meeting between the two squads.
The Lewis-Clark State tennis squad is 1-5 on the season with most of their competition coming against Division I opponents. They are No. 10 in the nation in NAIA national rankings. This is their first meeting with UMKC.
Idaho, the WAC favorite, enters the weekend at 6-1 overall and are ranked No. 73 in the nation after winning matches against Utah State and Fresno State last week. The Vandals are 1-0 against Kansas City, winning 7-0 back in 2007.
Who is Competing
All seven players are available for the weekend matches, Dimitra Stavrianakou, Raquel Argenal, Amelie Amsallem, Maddie Schulte, Mariam Kurasbediani, Gaby Pintos, and Linda Ammar Mouhoub.
RECORD START
Kansas City women's tennis started the season 3-0, making it the best start in school history.
THE WAC
WAC play will have no regular season champion crowned, only a conference tournament champion. The teams will be seeded in the league tournament based on ITA rankings. The WAC Tournament will be played April 25-27 in Las Cruces, N.M., hosted by New Mexico State.
HEAD COACH KENDELL HALE
Kendell Hale is in his seventh season as the head coach of the UMKC men's and women's tennis program. Overall, the 2013-14 season will be Hale's 20th as a collegiate head coach, where he compiled a 364-267 overall combined men's and women's record coming in. On the women's side, he has a current record of 56-82 at UMKC, while boasting a 77-61 mark with the men.
Hale has orchestrated an amazing turnaround with the men's and women's tennis programs since joining the department in 2008. He has guided both the men's and women's squads to numerous school-record win totals and has produced four Summit League regular season titles, four Summit League Tournament crowns and four NCAA Tournament appearances. He was selected as the 2010 USTPA National Coach of the Year for his turnaround effort, as well as 2009 USPTA Missouri Valley College Coach of the Year, the 2011 Summit League Men's Coach of the Year, and 2013 Summit League Women's Coach of the Year.
In six seasons at the helm, Hale has coached 23 all-league honorees on the men's side and 12 all-league selections on the women's side. He's coached three Summit League Players of the Year and three Summit League Newcomers of the Year.
Hale has also coached the five winningest players in school history on the women's side, and four of the five top career win leaders on the men's side.
Players Mentioned
