SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA women's tennis team, under the guidance of first-year head coach Erin Boisclair, kicks of the 2007 season this weekend with a pair of non-conference matches in the Metroplex. The Roadrunners open the campaign on Saturday when they play at SMU beginning at 2 p.m. UTSA then completes its busy weekend the following morning when it travels to Denton to face North Texas in a match that begins at 11 a.m. Below is a preview of this year's team.
2007 Outlook
After having its six-year streak of qualifying for the Southland Conference Tournament snapped in 2005, the UTSA women’s team returned to the postseason a year ago but fell in the first round to Sam Houston State.
A young but experienced team returns for the 2007 season with the hopes getting back on top of the conference standings.
The Roadrunners welcome back seven letterwinners, including first-team All-SLC performer sophomore Sandra Kukla and No. 1 singles player sophomore Nathalie Wallin.
Also, returning is Ana Paula Soto Anton, the team’s lone senior, junior Tanya Hasking and sophomores Monika Drabkova, Karen Scida and Eva Silvester. The Roadrunners also welcome newcomer Holly Phillips to the program this season.
Singles
UTSA returns all six of its singles players from last year’s squad.
The Roadrunners are set at the top two slots with Wallin and Kukla filling those roles for the second consecutive season.
Wallin started the entire year at the No. 1 position in 2006 and managed a 10-9 record overall and a 4-6 mark in SLC play.
Meanwhile, Kukla posted a stellar 15-2 record and went a perfect 10-0 in conference play at the No. 2 spot en route to first-team All-SLC honors as a true freshman.
Scida will see action at either the No. 3 or No. 4 position for the Roadrunners. Last season, she went 5-1 at No. 4 and 7-4 at No. 3.
Drabkova who played the No. 3 and No. 4 positions last year, will see action at the same spots this year. Hasking, who played five matches at the No. 5 singles, will remain there this season.
Soto Anton, a 2004 first-team all-conference choice, will see action at the No. 6 position. She was 8-7 last season with seven of her eight wins coming in No. 6 play.
Silvester and Phillips will look to contribute at either the No. 5 or No. 6 positions.
Doubles
UTSA will have a solid No. 1 tandem returning, as Hasking and Scida will play at the top spot.
The pair combined for a 3-5 record and 1-1 mark in SLC play last season. In the fall, the tandem won the Texas Tech Red Draw Consolation doubles title.
Teaming up at No. 2 will be Drabkova and Phillips. The pair had a solid showing during the fall campaign.
Heading into the spring, Kukla and Wallin are expected to form the Roadrunners’ No. 3 doubles team.
Schedule
The Roadrunners are set to play a total of 22 matches this season, including a full slate of 11 Southland Conference contests. The 11-match non-league schedule features teams from the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences, in addition to Conference USA.
UTSA opens the year on Jan. 27 at SMU, but the bulk of this year’s schedule comes during the month of March when the squad will play 10 matches.
The stretch begins on March 8 when Connecticut comes to town. The Roadrunners open SLC play on March 10-11 with matches at Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana. UTSA returns home to host Sam Houston State (March 17), Stephen F. Austin (March 18) and Illinois (March 22) before heading on a two-match road trip from March 24-25 at Texas-Arlington and Texas State. The long month concludes on March 31 when Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Laredo CC come to the UTSA Tennis Center on March 31.
After hosting Northwestern State and Central Arkansas on April 5-6, the Roadrunners wrap up the regular season with three road matches from April 13-15, before returning home to host the SLC Tournament from April 20-22.
