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Show i Thursday, September 30, 2004 Times Newspaper Page AT r i rv i j t h i mm mufti f T imvtiMtiMii'' I I m " - ' v I if' "I i i? 1V mu. .! -! . pbolo by Ljndoo Olson77ms Newspaper Kaltlyn Craig, Just a sophomore, Is In her second year at No. 1 singles and Is going into this week's region tournament as the No. 2 seed. Following her family in playing tennis, she's risen to No. 1 at Orem High "They were way cool. They were all nice to me," she said. Lynsi Gardner, the Orem coach, Baid, "They know she deserves that spot. She plays it very well. People can tell that's where she deserves to be. It doesn't matter if she's a freshman or not." She proved she deserved the spot by finishing second in the Region VII tournament last season and advancing advanc-ing to the second round of State. En route, she helped the Tigers win the region championship and finish near the top at State. The path to the top of the Tiger lineup wasn't traveled overnight, though. Kaitlyn began playing tennis when her mom started her at 5 years old. "My mom didn't think we would ever get far, she just kind of stared us," Kaitlyn says. "We weren't really into it, we just hit them around." That's all changed within the last three years, though. In that time, Kaitlyn has started playing tournaments tourna-ments and has been "into it." The last year and a half she's been playing every day, and this past summer sum-mer played three hours every day. In addition to her mom and coaches, she plays with her sisters who are 13. They started at the same time as Kaitlyn and play at about the same level she does. continued on PageA8 LANDON OLSON Times Sports Editor For Kaitlyn Craig, tennis has been a family affair. Her grandpa played. He taught KaitJyn's mom and uncle. Her uncle played at Wimbledon and now coaches at BYU. All her brothers and sisters play. And Kaitlyn? While only sophomore, she's the No. 1 singles player for Orem High, and this is her second year in that position. posi-tion. Last season as just a freshman, Kaitlyn not only joined the Tiger team, but quickly grabbed the No. 1 position. "It was kind of scary at first just because I didn't know anyone, but then it was fun," she said. Tve just been playing longer, so that's probably why I was No. 1." Although at first there was some worry that some of the older players may have thought Kaitlyn had an attitude because she was only a freshman fresh-man and the top player on the team, that was quickly dispelled. Orem defense earns second shutout, holds off PG photo by Laodoi CMoh7wi Newspaper Tiger Paige Parker tries to get Into position to play a ban off her body In Thursday's victory over PG. LANDON OLSON Times Sports Editor While the offense has been struggling to finish particularly against Pleasant Grove the Tigers have had no worries lately when it comes to defense. For the second straight game Orem earned a shutout with keeper Alyson Tucker picking up solid saves and the defenders keeping most of the balls away as the Tigers downed PG 2-0 Thursday. "The last two were the only two games I specifically told them, 1 want a shutout this game said coach Melanie Hoopes. "Both games they've done it I guess I need to keep saying that every game." In the first half, the Tigers had their opportunities, but even in 1-v-l situations situa-tions couldn't find the back of the net. With her breakaway speed, Natasha Martin was able to create some opportunities opportu-nities but somehow was just off on all her shots. Despite dominating the first half and controlling the ball, Orem went into half-time half-time tied at 0-0. Things would change in the second, though. In the 62nd minute, Tamika Wilson finally got the Tigers on the board. Moving through traffic, Wilson was able to find some room in the center of the field 30 yards out She swung around on a low shot, driving the ball along the ground and slipping it in past a diving keeper to make it 1-0 for Orem. Four minutes later the Tigers would strike again. Martin was able to get free and beat the keeper, taking a shot toward the far post But while the keeper didn't stop the ball, a Viking defender did with her hand. The handball resulted in a penalty kick for Orem, and Wilson took care of things, knocking a low shot into the corner for the score. "Thank goodness for a senior who will stick it in for you and win the game," Hoopes said of Wilson. She won it again for us." The lack of ability for her team to finish is still somewhat of a concern for Hoopes, though. "Part of it is they're young, they get excited," she said. "They still have the whole excitement of getting there. There's just a lid on the goal some games. At least we have good shots, but we've got to stick them in." The other problem against Pleasant Grove was a barrage of offsides calls. Trying to slip behind the defenders, Orem had trouble waiting on making the runs. "We've had that all season, too. As much as we drill on that they get so anxious anx-ious to get up there and score, we just wander off," Hoopes said. ' But as long as the Tigers at least got on the board, the rest didn't matter f 1 thanks to the defense. In the first half, the defenders including Ashley Boulter, Haley Warner, Paige Parker and Brianne Larsen kept Pleasant Grove from getting any scoring opportunities at all. The second was similar, and while the Vikings did take some shots, they were all long-range lobs that went over the goal. Until right at the end. Pushing hard, PG had some "good opportunities, but either big plays by the defense or saves by Tucker preserved the shutout. With; the loss, Pleasant Grove was eliminated from a shot at an automatic state tournament spot, while the Tigers' (6-4, 3-1-1) have nearly wrapped up their spot Currently in sec ond in Region VII, the Tigers need only one victory in their final three games" or a loss by Lone Peak to secure their trip to the state tournament. Orem played Lone Peak on the road Tuesday in a game that could seal the; fate of both teams with a Tiger victory. The Knights lone region win was against Pleasant Grove, and they were two games behind Mountain View going into Tuesdays game. The Tigers remaining two games put them at home ; against Timpanogos Thursday, then at Mountain View Tuesday. E 0 Y ' 1 1 v-f- : l'f(VO lb,li Medical Specialties Medical Assisting fWmacy Technology X-Ry Scope (Ltd.) 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