Women Take 4th In Regionals

Coach Powell's final season comes to a close

It was a bittersweet moment for the legendary Mesa tennis coach as she supported then comforted her squad for the last time.

"I've been blessed to do what I love for my career," says Powell.

Her ladies had a wonderful season. Ivette Cerda was championed as female athlete with the highest GPA at Mesa Community College. Beth Baeza, Nikki Serrano, Randi Villarreal, Jordan Hurst, Aubrey Blackburn, Nga Le, and Marina Milosavljevic all performed beyond their coaches expectations and for that reason Penny Powell can rest easy that Mesa women's tennis is in good hands.

Women Now 6-5 On Season

Win over College of Spokane, 9-0

The women's tennis team has won four straight matches and have been dominating in doing so.

Mesa won all three doubles matches on Tuesday as Ivette Cerda and Beth Baeza won easily, 8-3, over Natalie Palo and Chelsie Henderson. Nikki Serrano and Randi Villarreal handled Stefanie Skeman and Carrie Rabe 8-0. Finally, Jordan Hurst and Nga Le won their match 8-1.

In singles matches, Cerda defeated Natalie Deso 6-0, 6-0. Beth Baeza beat Chelsie Hardwick 6-1, 6-2. Nikki Serrano took out Stefanie Skeman 6-0, 7-5. Randi Villarreal ousted Carrie Rabe 6-1, 7-5. Jordan Hurst beat Leslie Monigeau 6-3, 6-1, and Aubrey Blackburn won her match 6-1, 6-3.

Next up for the the women is a matchup against Gateway on Thursday. March 27 at home at 1:30 p.m. The match is Mesa's last home contest of the season before the Region I Tournament begins April 7.

2008 Mesa Women's Tennis

T'Birds Handle Pima 8-1 To Pick Up First Win In 2008

Ladies win all singles matches

Coach Penny Powell congratulated her team and had a wide smile across her face in doing so.

"The girls were just great today. We lost the last two matches against Glendale and Scottsdale in very close tie-breakers, so it was nice to get these (tie-breakers)."

Mesa won all singles matches against Pima on Thursday, February 14 en route to an 8-1 victory.
Sophomore Ivette Cerda won her match convincingly over Ali Brackey 6-2, 6-4. Beth Baeza had to come back from a 6-1 first-set loss to capture the second in a tie-break 6-4 (8).

Nikki Serrano also won her match over Rachel Lockey 6-4, 7-6 (5), and Nga Le and Randi Villarreal both had no problems with Jenn Hamel and Eunice Sanchez, winning 6-3, 6-2, and 6-0, 6-2, respectively.

The ladies host PVCC at home on Tuesday, February 19 at 1:30 p.m.

Spring 2008 Women's Tennis Outlook

Legendary Coach Penny Powell takes the Mesa Women's Tennis team into 2008 with hopes of going deeper into nationals this year. The team ended last season ranked 10th in the nation.

Coach Powell has returnees Ivette Creda and Nicole Serrano to assist in that goal. A second year player out of Serbia, Marina Milosavljevic, has talent to add to the veteran side of things.

Incoming freshmen Nga Le, Randi Vilarreal, Jordan Hurst, and Aubrey Blackburn will be pivotal in just how far this year's team can go.

Women finish strong in nationals, rank 10th in the country

Wasson, Mota advance to quarters

Coach Penny Powell can put her most successful season in the books with a 10th place finish at the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament in Tucson. The team collected a total of 17.5 points with four of six women winning their first round matches. Lynley Wasson and Jennifer Mota made it all the way to the quarterfinals before being defeated.

Additionally, each of the three doubles pairings won their first round matches. Four players are expected to return next season, which makes for a promising outlook for the future.

Nationals results from Tucson, Arizona...Round 1

• Flight 1 singles Lynley Wasson defeats Arsema Mulugeta of Temple College, 6-1, 6-1
• Flight 1 singles match 2 Lynley Wasson defeats Angelita Detudamo of Collin County Community College, 6-2, 6-1
• Flight 1 singles Quarterfinals Lynley Wasson lost to Kalei Gora of Lee College, 6-3, 7-6(6-3)
• Flight 2 singles Brittany Guerrero defeats Katrina Little of MS Gulfcoast Community College, 6-0, 6-1
• Flight 2 singles match 2 Brittany Guerrero lost to Natalie Araya of Lee College, 6-0, 6-0
• Flight 3 singles Morgan Weatherby lost to Paula Sims of Itawamba Community College, 6-4, 6-1
• Flight 4 singles Jennifer Mota defeats Audrey Gillespie of Rend Lake College, 6-2, 6-3
• Flight 4 singles match 2 Jennifer Mota defeats Cassie Burke of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, 7-6(6-4), 6-4
• Flight 4 singles Quarterfinals Jennifer Mota lost to Alba Passanisi of Hillsborough Community College, 6-0, 6-1
• Flight 5 singles Ivette Cerda defeats Brandy Long of Oakland Community College, 6-0, 6-3
• Flight 5 singles match 2 Ivette Cerda lost to Kristi Reid of Tyler Junior College, 6-1, 6-0
• Flight 6 singles Chelsea Schultz lost to Farren Young of Itawamba Community College, 6-3, 7-5
• Flight 1 doubles Lynley Wasson and Brittany Guerrero defeat Amina Abdullah and Uthala Abdullah of Seward County Community college, 7-5, 6-3
• Flight 1 doubles match 2 Lynley Wasson and Brittany Guerrero lost to Alyona Tsutskova and Bridget Castillo of Broward Community College, 6-1, 6-0
• Flight 2 doubles Morgan Weatherby and Jennifer Mota defeat Tzintzia Nunez and Liana D'Angelo of Waubonsee Community College, 6-0, 6-2
• Flight 2 doubles match 2 Morgan Weatherby and Jennifer Mota lost to Irene George and Ashley Grayson of Collin County Community College, 7-5, 6-1
• Flight 3 doubles Ivette Cerda and Chelsea Schultz defeat Sarah Paulson and Catherine Hackett of Central Alabama Community College, 6-2, 6-3
• Flight 3 doubles match 2 Ivette Cerda and Chelsea Schultz lost to Monica Medina and Katie McKee of Cowley County Community College, 6-1, 7-6(6-5)

Mesa ladies 10th in the nation...DAY 2 at Nationals

Lynley Wasson and Jennifer Mota of Mesa Community College lost their quarterfinal singles matches Tuesday as did the three MCC doubles teams on the second day of play at the NJCAA Division I Women's national tournament in Tucson. Chelsea Schultz was the lone winner for the Thunderbirds with a second-round victory in the consolation bracket.

Mesa is in 10th place among the 39 participating junior colleges at the Randolph Tennis Center.

Ladies show strength at nationals...DAY 1 at Nationals

Mesa CC Women Win 10 of 15 Matches

Mesa Community College completed the first day of play Monday in ninth place with 16 points, six behind the leader, North Central Texas, at the NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis national tournament in Tucson. Two hundred and seventeen players from 39 junior colleges are participating in the annual event at the Randolph Tennis Center.

Lynley Wasson, Mesa's top player, captured her two singles matches and an afternoon doubles match with Brittany Guerrero.

Jennifer Mota won both times in the #4 singles flight and paired with Morgan Weatherby for a doubles win.

Chelsea Schultz and Ivette Cerda, Mesa's #3 doubles team, were also winners. Weatherby and  Schultz lost their opening singles matches, but are still alive in the consolation bracket.

Tennis off to Tuscon for Championships...

Coach Powell's squad ran away with the Regionals in Glendale, finshing with 25 points. Eastern finished 2nd with only 13 points.

"We won all the singles except one in the second flight, and we won all three doubles matches," said Coach Penny Powell.

MCC Women's Tennis has had an undefeated season (16-0). Coach Powell's squad has been dismantling the competetion all year...a quick check on the schedule scoreboard will verify that.

The team now awaits a computer draw for seeding and match times Saturday, May 5. Play will begin May 6 at the Randolph Tennis Center in Tucson.

""We won't know until late Saturday evening what the draw will be, but I should have a majority of the kids playing on Sunday (May 6)," said Powell.

Morgan Weatherby, Jennifer Mota, Ivette Cerda, and Chelsea Schultz have all been dominating the opposition thus far.

"We have a really good team this year," said Coach Powell.

Really good might be a bit modest.

In only losing two games in conference matches thus far, Lynley Wasson has given her teammates some dominating play to feed off of.

Wasson, along with Brittany Guerrero, are undefeated this season in doubles matches.

2007 Recap

The Women’s tennis team bounced back from one of the few losing seasons in Penny Powell’s 33-year tenure at head coach, racking up 16 consecutive wins during the 2007 regular season. The team then went on to capture the Region I title and move on to the NJCAA Championships in Tucson in mid-May. It was the first time in more than 40 years that the Thunderbird Women finished the regular season with an unblemished record. Lynley Wasson was named Regional Player of the Year, and Coach Powell received another Regional Coach of the Year designation.

In winning 89 per cent of their matches, four were by 9-0 scores, and their closest margin was a 5-4 victory over Mesa State, an NCAA Division 2 college from Colorado. Powell calls Lynley Wasson, a three-time 5A state champion from Corona del Sol, “one of the best I’ve ever coached. She is a very steady player and lost only two games this season. That’s games, not matches!”

Lynley is following her older sister Whitney who was also a #1 player in the mid-1990s and her mother Mellie at Mesa. Brittany Guerrero has moved down to the #2 slot and teams with Lynley to make up the top doubles team. Morgan Weatherby is described by her coach as “the workhorse of the team” playing in the #3 position.

Mesa dominated the 2007 All-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference women’s tennis team, taking five of the six singles spots and one of three double teams. Named to the first team were Lynley Wasson, Morgan Weatherby, Jennifer Mota, Ivette Cerda and Chelsea Schultz for singles, and Weatherby and Mota for doubles. Selected for second team doubles were Wasson and Brittany Guerrero. All of the singles players were undefeated in Conference play as was the Wasson-Guerrero doubles team.

Powell’s teams put winning records in the books in 28 of 31 seasons before struggling to a 7-10 record in 2006. She was National Coach of the Year in 2000 and was inducted into the NJCAA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2004. She served as president of the National Women’s Tennis Coaches Association for 11 years. Her overall record stands at 387-192 and 305-061 in Conference play.

Please contact The Tennis Department for comments or corrections phone: 480-461-7566