UMKC Tennis Faces Northwest Missouri State Wednesday
3/8/2016 8:22:00 AM | Women's Tennis
This Week and Up Next
Kansas City (3-8) women's tennis will host a doubleheader with the men on Wednesday against Northwest Missouri State, followed by a dual with Arkansas on Saturday. The following week, they start conference play, going to Phoenix for a pair of weekend duals against Seattle and UTRGV.
The Opponent
Northwest Missouri St. comes in at 2-1, winning their last two contests. The Division II Bearcats are paced by a strong middle lineup, with Aniek Kolen out of the No. 3 spot and Margaux Jacquet at No. 4, both with 3-0 records. UMKC is 3-3 all-time against NWMSU, and has won the last three meetings in the series, including a 7-0 win last season. NWMSU is led by head coach Mark Rosewell, who coached UMKC head coach Kendell Hale in college, as well as assistant coach Malcolm Harrison.
No. 33 ranked Arkansas is 6-6 overall and plays Missouri earlier in the day on Saturday. They have wins against Wichita State and Purdue already this season. They are led by Ana Oparenovic with a 14-7, playing the No. 1-3 positions in the lineup. This will be the first ever meeting between UMKC and Arkansas.
Moving On Up
The Roos have three current players ranked in the singles all-time top-10 charts. Senior Dimitra Stavrianakou is sixth all-time with 42 wins, while Mariam Kurasbediani has 31 wins to sit eighth, and Raquel Argenal is at 29 victories in ninth.
In doubles play, Stavrianakou is fifth with 38 career victories, while Linda Ammar Mouhoub is 10th with 23 career wins.
Player of the Week
Senior Dimitra Stavrianakou was named WAC Player of the Week on Feb. 22 after going 2-0 in both singles and doubles on the week. It was her fourth career time to be named Player of the Week, doing it twice last season and once as a sophomore.
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 410-334 overall combined men's and women's record. On the women's side, he has a record of 73-111 at UMKC, while boasting a 102-88 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
