May 11, 2005

2005 UIC Women's Tennis NCAA Postseason Guide in PDF Format
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Los Angeles, Calif.- For the seventh consecutive season, the University of Illinois at Chicago women's tennis team embarks on another postseason of NCAA Tournament play as the Flames get ready to face seventh-seeded Southern California in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships at USC's David X. Marks Tennis Stadium in L.A. this Friday at 3 p.m. CST (1 p.m. PST).

The Flames enter the match with a 13-10 overall record and a 10-0 Horizon League mark. UIC claimed their ninth straight league title on April 24th with a 4-0 win over Youngstown State in the Horizon League finals in Indianapolis, Ind.

USC faces the Flames after finishing second in the Pacific-10 Conference with a 16-3 overall record and a 7-1 conference mark.

Live results will be carried on the Women's Tennis page at usctrojans.com. You can access the Live Stats page by clicking here.

2005 UIC NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES

UIC vs. No. 7 USC NCAA LineupsSINGLES

1. Iris Jaklin (UIC) vs. Nicole Leimbach (USC) 2. Molly Smith (UIC) vs. Lindsey Nelson (USC) 3. Corey Steven (UIC) vs. Anca Anastasiu (USC) 4. Melanie Humphrey (UIC) vs. Dianna Matias (USC) 5. Grace Gill-Morlis (UIC) vs. Carine Vermeulen (USC) 6. Christina Oum (UIC) vs. Judy DeVera (USC) DOUBLES 1. Jaklin/Humphrey (UIC) vs. Nelson/Vermeulen (USC) 2. Steven/Oum (UIC) vs. Leimbach/Matias (USC) 3. Smith/Gill-Morlis (UIC) vs. Anastasiu/DeVera (USC)

UIC Head Coach: Shannon Tully (Wisconsin, 1996) - Fourth Season

USC Head Coach: Richard Gallien (Pepperdine, 1985) - Tenth Season

THE CLASS OF THE HORIZON LEAGUE: For the ninth consecutive season, the UIC women's tennis team proved to be the dominant team in the Horizon League by wrapping up the league championship in a 4-0 win over Youngstown State in the Horizon League finals on April 24. Since the 1997 season, the Flames have conquered the Horizon League (known as the Midwestern Collegiate Conference until 2001) nine straight years, earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the past seven seasons, and posted a 71-0 dual match record against league foes during that span.

DANCING MACHINES: 2005 marks the seventh straight season that the Flames have earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Each year they have faced a Top 20 seed in the tournament, including last season at No. 10 Northwestern.

THEIR KIND OF TOWN: Chicago is an attractive city that has helped attract top-notch talent from all over the globe to UIC. Of UIC's six regulars, only two hail from the United States and none come from Chicago. Only reserve Virginija Palshmitaite comes by way of the Chicagoland area (the suburb of Hinsdale), but she is originally from Lithuania.

    From Out-of-Towners To Chicago's Own: UIC Regulars and Hometowns    PLAYER       HOMETOWN

Grace Gill-Morlis Lima, PERU Melanie Humphrey Harpenden Herts, ENGLAND Iris Jaklin Fischbach, AUSTRIA Christina Oum St. Laurent, Quebec, CANADA Molly Smith Leawood, KANSAS Corey Steven Wichita, KANSAS

JUNIOR MINTS: With a lineup that features four juniors, UIC relies heavily on its third-year talent. The Flames received 45 of their 68 dual match singles wins in 2005 from their junior corps of Melanie Humphrey (11 wins), Iris Jaklin (9 wins), Molly Smith (14 wins) and Corey Steven (11 wins).

ALL-LEAGUE STARS: The Flames continued their dominance of All-Horizon League honors this season, as Iris Jaklin and Corey Steven were named to the All-League First Team, while Melanie Humphrey and Molly Smith were selected to the All-League Second Team. Steven is a three-time All-League selection with two first team honors in her career, while Smith and Jaklin made their second career appearances on the second team. Humphrey earned her first All-League selection.

GRACE ISN'T UNDER FIRE HERE: Rookie sensation Grace Gill-Morlis (Lima, Peru/Villa Maria) is close to a favorable freshman fifteen. At 14-6 in dual matches and 14-9 overall, the first-year Flame is just one win shy of 15 victories. Gill-Morlis was named the Horizon League Newcomer of the Year after a league campaign in which she posted a perfect 7-0 record in league singles and an unblemished 8-0 mark in league doubles.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP: After getting limited action during her freshman campaign in 2004, sophomore Christina Oum (St. Laurent, Quebec/Dawson College) has been solid throughout her second season. Oum turned in six wins during the fall tournament campaign, highlighted by her flight win at the DePaul Invitational. The native of Canada then solidified the lower part of the order with a 5-3 record at No. 6 singles, with wins in four of her last five regular season matches.

TEAMS UNDER TULLY TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS: Since Shannon Tully took over the reigns of the UIC women's tennis program on August 20, 2001, the Flames have continued to make strides as one of the Midwest's top teams. With Tully at the helm, UIC has won four straight Horizon League titles, featured 16 All-Horizon League selections (the maximum any team can have in a four-season span), posted a 39-0 league record, and made the NCAA Tournament each season of her tenure. Under Tully, the Horizon League Coach of the Year in 2003 and Co-Coach of the Year this season, UIC has had three conference Players of the Year and three Newcomers of the Year.

FIRST ROUND OPPONENT - NO. 7 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: The seventh seed in the tournament, USC finished second in the Pac-10 Conference with a 16-3 overall record and a 7-1 conference mark, with their lone league blemish coming against 2004 national runner-up UCLA. USC is led by freshman Nicole Leimbach, who is ranked No. 9 in the country with a 32-9 overall singles record and became the first Trojan women's tennis player to capture the Pac-10 singles crown. Also featured in the ITA national rankings for the Trojan women are freshman Lindsey Nelson (No. 16), sophomore Anca Anastasiu (No. 53) and sophomore Dianna Matias (No. 94). USC is coached by Richard Gallien, who is in his tenth season at the helm and boasts a 173-86 overall record during that span. The Women of Troy are among seven Pac-10 teams in the tournament and are the highest-seeded opponent to ever face UIC in the NCAA Tournament.

LOOKING AHEAD - SECOND ROUND POSSIBILITIES: The winner of the UIC-USC match will move on to face the winner of the San Diego State-Arizona State match in the second round at Marks Tennis Stadium on Saturday, May 14 at 3 p.m. Central (1 p.m. Pacific). San Diego State is 16-10 overall and 4-3 in the Mountain West, reaching the semifinals of the MWC Tournament to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA tourney. Arizona State enter the tournament with a 10-7 dual match mark and a 5-3 Pac-10 record.

NCAA HISTORY: UIC is still in search of its first victory in the NCAA Tournament. Seeding has not been kind to the Flames, who have faced a Top 20 seed in the first round of the tournament every season.

UIC Women's Tennis All-Time NCAA Tournament ResultsYear    Opponent        Location        Result1999    # 12 Notre Dame South Bend, Ind.    L, 9-02000    # 13 Notre Dame South Bend, Ind.    L, 5-02001    #  9 Northwestern   Evanston, Ill.      L, 4-02002    # 15 Northwestern   Evanston, Ill.      L, 4-02003    # 18 Arizona State  Tempe, Ariz.        L, 4-02004    # 10 Northwestern   Evanston, Ill.      L, 4-02005    #   7 USC       Los Angeles, Calif.

KANSAS CONNECTION: Shannon Tully's first two recruits have made a huge impact at UIC. Juniors Molly Smith (Leawood, Kan./Notre Dame de Sion) and Corey Steven (Wichita, Kan./Kapaun Mt. Carmel) have produced a combined 101 singles wins and 87 doubles victories in the past three seasons, garnering five All-Horizon League selections between the two.

STREAKY: Along with the team's ninth straight Horizon League title and seventh straight NCAA berth, the 2005 season has featured many other streaks from the UIC women's tennis team. Corey Steven capped off the season with a 2005 team-best seven-match singles winning streak, helping the junior run her career Horizon League singles winning streak to 27 matches. Molly Smith and Melanie Humphrey each produced six-match winning streaks during the year, while Grace Gill-Morlis turned in a five-match win streak early in the dual match campaign. Iris Jaklin and Christina Oum had four-match win streaks in 2005.

NINE QUICK POINTS ON UIC WOMEN'S TENNIS:

-   13-10 overall dual match record in 2005-   10-0 dual match record against Horizon League opponents in 2005-   Won their last seven matches and nine of their last 12 contests-   7-3 on home courts, 3-7 on road courts, 3-0 on neutral courts in 2005-   Last lost a match to a conference opponent in the 1996 MCC finals against UW-Green Bay-   Nine consecutive Horizon League titles is all-time best championship streak in league history-   63-36 overall record in four seasons under Shannon Tully, highlighted by a 39-0 league record-   Has had 35 all-conference selections, four conference Player of the Year honorees and         four conference Newcomer of the Year selections since 1996-   Has faced a Top 20 seed in the NCAA Tournament every year