UMKC Opens WAC Play with Seattle and UTRGV this Weekend
3/18/2016 10:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
This Week and Up Next
UMKC women's tennis (4-9) will start conference play, going to Phoenix for a pair of weekend duals against Seattle and UTRGV. The following week they host McPherson in a doubleheader with the men, before facing Kansas State.
The Opponents
Seattle is 8-7 entering the weekend including wins over Portland State and South Dakota State. They are led by one of the top players in the WAC in Michelle Lui at the No. 1 position with an 18-7 overall record. UMKC will be meeting Seattle for just the second time ever, posting a 1-0 mark with a 6-1 win last season.
UTRGV is 3-4 entering the weekend, and will face the Roos on Sunday morning. They come in off a win over Prairie View A&M. Dominique Ibarra paces the team with eight wins, playing out of the No. 3 and 4 positions. This will be the fourth meeting between UMKC and UTRGV, with the Vaqueros winning all three meetings, including a 4-2 decision in the WAC semifinals last year.
Moving On Up
The Roos have three current players ranked in the singles all-time top-10 charts. Senior Dimitra Stavrianakou is tied for fifth all-time with 43 wins, while Mariam Kurasbediani has 32 wins to sit eighth, and Raquel Argenal is at 30 victories in ninth.
In doubles play, Stavrianakou is fifth with 38 career victories, while Linda Ammar Mouhoub is 10th with 25 career wins.
Players of the Week
UMKC has had three WAC Player of the Week honors so far this season, with Allie Schulte winning the first week of the spring, Dimitra Stavrianakou earning the accolade on February 23 and Marina Albert grabbing it on March 15.
The WAC
The WAC will have a regular season champion crowned again this year, as well as a conference tournament champion. The teams will be seeded in the league tournament based on the conference standings.
Head Coach Kendell Hale
Kendell Hale is in his ninth season as the head coach of the UMKC men's and women's tennis program. Overall, the 2015-16 season is Hale's 22nd as a collegiate head coach, where he has compiled a 412-335 overall combined men's and women's record. On the women's side, he has a record of 74-112 at UMKC, while boasting a 103-88 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 at 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 eight seasons at the helm, Hale has coached 29 all-league honorees on the men's side and 16 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 nine 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
