UMKC Heads to Wichita Friday and Saturday, Hosts Home Match Sunday
2/5/2015 4:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis
THIS WEEK
Kansas City (2-2) women's tennis heads to Wichita, Kansas for a pair of matches on Friday and Saturday, before hosting Evangel at home on Sunday at 3 pm. The 'Roos face Wichita State on Friday and Colorado on Saturday, and both will be played in experimental format, with four singles and one doubles match being played at the same time.
THE OPPONENTS
Wichita State comes into the weekend with a 5-1 overall record, with victories over Missouri and Arkansas. They are led by Lucia Kovalova at the No. 1 spot with a 5-1 record. UMKC is 0-5 vs. the Shockers all-time.
Colorado enters the weekend at 4-0, including victories vs. Kansas State and Air Force. They are led by Tina Bokhua and Julyette Steur out of the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, and have 8-2 and 10-2 records, respectively. This is the first ever dual against Colorado.
Evangel will also be playing UMKC for the first time ever. They are an NAIA school out of the Springfield, Mo. area.
Who is Competing
All eight eligible players are available for the weekend: Dimitra Stavrianakou, Maddie Schulte, Mariam Kurasbediani, Raquel Argenal, Amelie Amsallem, Marina Albert, Allie Schulte, and Linda Ammar Mouhoub.
Last Time Out
The 'Roos dropped a pair of road matches at Colorado State and Air Force over the weekend. Maddie Schulte posted a 1-1 singles record out of the No. 2 position in the lineup.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Dimitra Stavrianakou went 2-0 in both singles and doubles to start the spring against Baker and WJC, and was rewarded for her efforts out of the No. 1 position, earning WAC Player of the Week for the second time in her career.
THE WAC
The WAC will have a regular season champion crowned this year, as well as a conference tournament champion. The teams will be seeded in the league tournament based on the conference standings. The WAC Tournament will be played April 24-26 in Kansas City, hosted by the 'Roos.
HEAD COACH KENDELL HALE
Kendell Hale is in his eighth season as the head coach of the UMKC men's and women's tennis program. Overall, the 2014-15 season is Hale's 21st as a collegiate head coach, where he has compiled a 384-299 overall combined men's and women's record. On the women's side, he has a record of 62-94 at UMKC, while boasting an 87-71 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 conference regular season titles, four conference tournament crowns and four NCAA Tournament appearances. He was also selected as the 2010 USPTA 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 seven seasons at the helm, Hale has coached 25 all-league honorees on the men's side and 14 all-league selections on the women's side. He's also coached three Conference Players of the Year and three League Newcomers of the Year.
He 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
