|
|
|
|
| Emily Figel |
The 2002-03 tennis season got off to a rousing official start last weekend as the men's team traveled to Greencastle, Ind. for the 2002 Omni Hotels/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men's Division III Central Region Singles Championship at DePauw University. Both the Wittenberg men and women had hosted flighted tournaments at mostly Division I competition in previous weekends, but the regional tourney annually kicks things off for Division III teams.
And what a kick-off it wound up being. Senior Casey Clagett (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs), a quarterfinalist at the event each of the last two years, emerged as the singles champion, becoming the first Tiger player, male of female, to win the crown. To do it, Clagett, the No. 2 seed in the competition after last year's 23-4 singles record, had to win six matches in three days, including three straight three-setters in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
Clagett capped off his weekend by winning the singles in dramatic fashion, 75, 4-6, 6-2 over top-seeded Ben Crandell of Principia. As a result, he advanced to the Omni Hotels/ITA National Small College Championship Tournament on Oct. 17-20. The event is hosted by H.E.B. Tennis Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
In addition to Clagett, several other Tigers turned in fine performances. Seniors Eric Cusick (Lima, Ohio/Senior) and Mike Herzog (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern) each won two singles matches, and Herzog teamed with senior Ben Hodgkiss-Lilly (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) to win two doubles matches before getting bounced in the quarterfinals by the eventual champions from Washington University.
The women's tournament is scheduled for Oct. 5-7 at Wittenberg's Albright Tennis Courts. Last year, Tiger freshman Emily Figel (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) worked her way through to the championship match. She likely will be one of the top seeds in this year's event after finishing 19-5 overall a year ago and making the NCAA Division III championship tournament in the spring.