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Show $ V - ,.'-- V 1 v , v1 ! Vt;. A'; ' ! n ' s iha i i ' ' , ' ' t" s , f v - ' a ''' ; I I -" ;s '";".-.. . - j i ' ' " " I . t ' " - ; , . J I ' ( : i L i v i i .- - j . , . , t v , j Text: Dave Allison "s - t s ... : K , . . v - ... ; ' &. '.i.l"1' C vtiirf'iarfiAo 1 ' " '"' VT o-'-JJ-y i-rw .jtwtfvr- "'" 'jy Going into this year's women's tennis season, the Lady Cats knew they had a good team. But how good they would be was a different story. Before the season began, WSC's Lady netters knew they could depend on the steady play of their returning members -Anna Gunnarsson, Melanie Puddefoot, Cristy Gleave and Jill Hayasaka. But how far would the Lady Wildcats go with three untested freshman starters who had yet to compete at the major college tennis level . The freshmen debuted dramatically and it would be the solid play of the newcomers which would turn an already quality team into a championship team. Solid net perfomances by Katarina Skyllberg, Christina Beer and Wendy Compton helped the Lady Cats to a 15-4 record and a Mountain West Athletic Conference title. Weber State went through the regular season undefeated with a 7-0 record and overcame a strong stand by Idaho State to win its second consecutive MWAC title in the league's four-year existence. WSC Coach Keith Cox was very impressed with the way his team played in the 1985-86 season. 'They had a super year," said Cox. "There was some question as to what kind of team we had in the beginning and then the girls just took off. . . and consistently played winning tennis." The Lady Cats, bolstered by a line-up of depth, keyed their victorious showing in 1986. Coach Cox feels his singles players, at numbers one through five, are of equal strength. Gunnarsson led the Weber women, as she was unbeatable during the year, posting a 22-0 record in number three singles. Gunnarsson is the first WSC tennis player to accomplish such a feat against quality competition and was named to her third MWAC All-Conference team in as many years. Skyllberg practically duplicated Gunnarsson's feat by rolling up a 21-1 overall record. If not for a loss in her first match of the year to a talented University of Utah opponent, there would have been two milestone efforts on the team. Skyllberg was a big surprise for the Lady Cats and took the conference championship in number four singles. Wendy Compton, WSC's number five singles player, captured an MWAC singles crown while accomplishing a 15-2 record. Compton was named to the All-conference team in her initial year for the purple and white. Puddefoot, in number two singles, earned All-Conference honors in only her second season with the Lady Cats and was 15-6 at season's end. Beer handled the toughest assignments at number one singles and managed a 15-8 season. Beer combined with Gunnarssson against the top doubles teams, too, and nabbed the number one MWAC doubles title in a 15-6 season. The only non-returning starter, Gleave, ended her career at Weber State with a 12-5 number six singles effort. Gleave joined Puddefoot to mount a 17-4 mark, and they were number one in number two doubles in post season MWAC competition. Hayasaka shared some time at number six singles and went 1-3. But her contribution in doubles play was crucial in bringing a doubles sweep at the MWAC championships. The combination of HayasakaSkyllberg grabbed the number three doubles crown and finished with a team high 18-2 doubles slate. Marianne Hauskin performed well in a reserve role for WSC. Hauskin alternated court play between the number five and six singles and had a 3-3 year. Cox praises the accomplishments of his team, but may be more proud of the team's determination in the classroom. Cox's netters boast one of the best academic athletic programs on campus with a 3.1 team GPA. And for Weber State, there is no questioning the grade the Lady Cat netters earned this season. They were net only deserving of A's in class but on the court as well. C5 3 3 O c T3 rt S Co "a 3 00 H c a cu c a t ID 00 D |