Posted by Tim Drain - Sun, May 4, 2008 - [ Women's Tennis ]
The Tyler Junior College women's tennis team finished third at the national tournament last year and felt good about it.

Don't expect the Apache Ladies to be doing cartwheels if another third-place finish happens this year.
 Tyler Morning Telegraph
Joe Buie

For starters, TJC is ranked No. 1 entering the NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship today through Thursday in Tucson, Ariz.

 
The matches will be played at the Randolph Tennis Center.

"We had a great tournament to be third," TJC head coach John Peterson said of the 2007 team. "This year this is a more talented team."

Peterson, however, stopped well short of guaranteeing a national title. He said they could finish anywhere from first to fifth. Last year the top four teams in the final standings were separated by only seven points.

TJC won the Region XIV championship over Lee and Laredo to up its dual match record to 19-2. The Apache Ladies' only losses are to four-year schools Houston and Arkansas-Little Rock.

The only problem is that the national tournament has an individual flighted format. Teams rack up points by having their players advance through their respective draws.

There is no team versus team.

"We're a dangerous team head-to-head, you can tell that by our dual match record," said Peterson, adding that TJC went 3-0 against Region XIV rival Lee, the defending national champion.

"In that flighted tournament, our depth isn't as important as it is in a dual match. In fact, it puts a lot of pressure on the bottom part of our lineup because they can't have a bad day."

Trailing TJC in the latest national rankings are No. 2 Hillsborough (Fla.), No. 3 Lee, No. 4 Abraham Baldwin (Ga.), No. 5 Laredo, No. 6 Collin County and No. 7 North Central Texas.

Peterson also said No. 16 Cowley (Kan.) and No. 8 Barton County (Kan.) have some very good players.

Thirty-eight schools are represented.

"Overall, women's tennis is getting stronger," Peterson said. "With the changes to the scholarships, it levels things out. There's more good players playing and the so-called rich teams can't stock up. There are more schools playing and the level's getting better."

TJC's No. 1 player, Ashley Irvin, is ranked No. 8 in the national singles poll. The Aussie sophomore is 22-12 on the season.

"We need Ashley Irvin to upset somebody that's seeded above her," Peterson said. "Last year she was seeded seventh and went all the way to the final (in Flight 2). We need her and Priscillia (Villemond) in doubles; that's probably our weakest line."

Villemond, the team captain, is much stronger in singles. She is 29-9 in Flight 2 this season after winning the Flight 3 championship last year.

"I'm a sophomore and I really want to win nationals because I don't know if I'm going to have any other chance to play nationals again in my life," said Villemond, who is planning to sign with Florida Gulf Coast University to continue her collegiate career.

The seeds were announced Saturday, and the Apache Ladies did not get a No. 1. Villemond, Sureena Weir and Iris Rendon are No. 2 in singles.

Kelly Rittenhouse is No. 3 in Flight 6, Ashley Longoria is No. 4 in Flight 3, and Irvin is No. 8.

Irvin-Villemond did not get seeded in Flight 1 doubles, while the other two doubles teams are No. 3 seeds.