TJC NO. 1: The Tyler Junior College women's tennis team heads to the NJCAA National Tournament in Tucson, Ariz., ranked tops in the country. Team members include: Antonia Kolovou, Masha Slupska, Anna Zurek, Natalie Hand, Julie Bell, Brooke Dennis, Hagar Caro, Sun Wen, Kendra Casey, Casey Bulls, Kelly Willison and Catherine Weber.

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer, Tyler Morning Telegraph

Unlike Rome, which was not built in a day, the Tyler Junior College women's tennis team achieved greatness overnight.

"There's a lot of luck involved with this team," said John Peterson, who has coached the TJC tennis program since 1987.

Ranked No. 1, the Apache Ladies are seeking their first national championship in five years beginning today in Tucson, Ariz., with the NJCAA Division I women's tournament.

They are actually short on experience, but long on talent.

TJC has three of the top six players in the junior college singles rankings, and not a one is on scholarship this semester.

Ukraine's Mariya Slupska, who plays No. 1 for the Apache Ladies, is a transfer from Kansas State where she played high in the lineup last year. Peterson said the K-State program opted not to retain Slupska, who wanted to keep playing tennis without having to sit out a year.

Peterson's No. 3 player, Tonia Kolovou of Greece, is another standout who practically fell out of the sky and landed at the JoAnn Medlock Murphy Tennis Center at TJC.

"I didn't even know she was coming," Peterson said.

"She was waiting for me the first day of school in January."

Peterson actually recruited his No. 2 player, China's Sun Wen, but she was delayed getting into school until January.

"My scholarships were committed already and Sun wanted to get into a Texas Division I but did not qualify," Peterson said. "We tried to get her in in August, but we could not get the paperwork done in time.

"I knew she was good, but I didn't realize how good."

Slupska has a singles record of 28-5 at TJC.

Wen is 18-1 and Kolovou is 20-1.

Rounding out the singles lineup are freshman Brooke Dennis (25-10), sophomore Casey Bulls (28-7) and freshman Julie Bell (33-7).

Dennis won a pair of Class 3A state championships at Abilene Wylie. Bulls is a returning starter and a Robert E. Lee graduate. Bell is from Wolfforth Frenship High School outside Lubbock.

The doubles lineup for nationals is No. 1 Slupska-Dennis, No. 2 Wen-Kolovou and No. 3 Hagar Caro-Anna Zurek.

TJC's talent influx forced Caro and Zurek, both returning starters, out of the singles lineup. Caro won the national title at Flight 4 last year, and Zurek went from No. 2 in singles to out of the top six.

Smoke Signals

: The national tournament does not have a dual-match format. Instead, it is flighted -- 1-6 singles and 1-3 doubles -- with a back draw for players who lose in the first round. For scoring in the main draw, the first round will be worth two points. A bye followed by a win is worth three points. Each additional win will be worth one point in the main draw. In the back draw, a win following a bye will be worth one point. A half-point will be awarded thereafter. … Defending champion Lee College is currently ranked No. 3. Runner-up Hillsborough (Fla.) is No. 2. … TJC finished third last year.

Link to Original Article:  http://tylerpaper.com/article/20100502/SPORTS06/5020315