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2008 Season Preview

[ Katie Figgie ] With reliable veterans at the top of the lineup, Ohio Wesleyan women's tennis coach Michelle Parish hopes to have the Battling Bishops back in contention for the North Coast Athletic Conference championship.

Ohio Wesleyan finished third in the NCAC tournament in 2007 after reaching the title match of the conference tournament in 2004 and 2005.

"I think we'll be strong," Parish said. "We will have to work hard to compete, but I think we'll be as strong as we were last year."

Senior Katie Figgie (Pepper Pike/Gilmour Academy) and senior Kristen Carney (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) will vie for the No. 1 spot in the Bishop ladder.

Figgie was a second-team All-NCAC selection in both singles and doubles last spring, compiling a 7-11 record at No. 1 singles.

Carney, an honorable mention All-NCAC pick in singles in 2007, played mostly No. 4 singles last year, but was 3-0 when called upon to play at No. 3 singles.

Senior Kirsten Pfund (Libertyville, Ill.) and sophomore Mollie Campbell (Burlington, Vt.) are competing for the No. 3 and No. 4 singles positions. Pfund was 2-7 in singles last year, going 1-0 at No. 3 and 1-4 at No. 5, while Campbell split 2 matches at No. 6 singles.

The No. 5 and No. 6 spots in the Bishop lineup are up for grabs, with freshman Erin Cohn (Highland Heights/Andrews Osborne), a district tournament qualifier in high school last year; freshman Jessica Miller (Dayton/Centerville) and junior Kaitlin Moran (Chatham, N.J.), a newcomer to the Bishop squad, the leading candidates.

Also competing for singles positions are junior Melissa Demarest (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan), another newcomer to the Bishop squad who helped her high school team to a pair of state championships; freshman Kate O'Keefe (Westport, Conn./Stoneleigh-Burnham (Mass.)); and senior Cecily Platt (Mattapoisett, Mass./Miss Hall's School), another newcomer to the Bishops.

[ Kristen Carney ] Freshman Pam Quigney (Mentor), an all-conference selection in high school, will further bolster the Bishop lineup when she rejoins the team after the conclusion of the Ohio Wesleyan women's basketball season.

Carney and Pfund, who compiled a spectacular 12-1 record at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles last year, are back for their third season as a doubles pairing and will open the season as the Bishops' No. 1 doubles team.

Campbell and Cohn should open the season in the No. 2 doubles spot, while Miller and Moran will open at No. 3 doubles. The return of Figgie and Quigney to the Bishop lineup could affect those pairings, though.

Ohio Wesleyan’s schedule includes matches against regional foes Otterbein, Mount Union and Case Reserve. Matchups with former national champion Kenyon, defending NCAC champion Denison and traditional league powers Wittenberg and Oberlin highlight the conference schedule, and the season is capped by the NCAC tournament on April 25-26.

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