Tennis Preview

If there are three things Wheaton students should be excited about as we begin the last quad of the year, it is the sun, the men’s tennis team and the women’s tennis teams. The men’s team — which finished last year with a solid 14-8 and a second-place finish behind Carthage College for the conference title — currently stands 5-5 and appears to be continually improving as the CCIW tournament approaches this April.
The remarkable 14-2 women’s team have been quite dominant of late. The team is coming off a sweep in the CCIW AQ Championship and 10th visit to the NCAA Division III Championships, where they fell to Gustavus Adolphus College in the first round.
Much of the two teams’ success thus far is due to the impressive play coming from their upperclassmen. For the men, seniors Justin Ancona — who qualified for the NCAA Division III Individual Championships last year — Matt Steiner and Andrew Torok are all competing at high levels and demonstrating sound leadership to the rest of the team.
Behind the play of senior Emily Jones, junior Katie Park – who earned a singles victory in last year’s NCAA Regional Championships – and juniors Miranda Kay and Kirstie White, the women’s team finished second in the CCIW Women’s Tennis Championships this past October.
Led by cores of hard-working competitors, both tennis teams are in solid positions to continue their impressive starts to the seasons throughout the entire spring leading up to their respective CCIW Tournaments.