The Omnibus

Issue date: 4/22/04 Section: Sports

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Winless in their last five matches, the Southwest Baptist University Lady Bearcats tennis team is now focusing on the upcoming MIAA Championship meet this Friday and Saturday, April 23-24.

The Lady 'Cats traveled to Oklahoma City on April 15 for the annual Broncho Invitational, where they competed against five other universities.

"We knew the competition was going to be tough going in," Coach Ray Still said.

On Thursday, SBU squared off against Cameron University and lost 5-0.

The next day, the Lady 'Cats returned for a match against Missouri Southern, which they lost 5-0. Also on Friday, SBU nearly pulled an upset against Incarnate Word, but lost 6-3. The three wins were number two doubles, sophomore Lynne Klaasen and senior Lindsay Hickel; number two singles (Klassen); and number three singles (Jones).

On Saturday, the last day of competition, SBU faced two tough teams, the University of Central Oklahoma and East Central University.

Against Central Oklahoma, SBU fell short, 5-1. The only win of the day belonged to the number one doubles team, junior Charlotte Heidelberg and sophomore Valerie Jones.

The Lady 'Cats ended the tournament against East Central with a 5-4 loss. Taking the wins were the number two doubles team, Klaasen and Hickel; number two singles (Klaasen); number four singles (Hickel); and number five singles (freshman Sarah Smith).

Still said he was not completely disappointed in the team's performance during the tournament.

"We improved a lot as the weekend went on," Still said. "The girls really came together as a team and I think the weekend made us stronger for the conference championship."

Team unity is very strong on the women's tennis team.

"It took us the whole season to unify the team, which we did during our last two matches at the Broncho Tournament," Heidelberg said.

"We are all really good friends and we're a really close team. Our relationship off the court helps us perform better on the court," Smith added.

Still is preparing for the MIAA Championship meet that will be held on Friday and Saturday April 23-24 in Topeka, Kansas.

"To prepare, we are fine-tuning and working on little things that each individual needs to improve," Still said. "The girls' spirits are high. We're feeling confident going down there."

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