May 3, 2005
SPORTS
MCC tennis advances to nationals
The fluorescent green balls will still be bouncing on the tennis court for one of MCC’s tennis teams.
MCC’s women’s tennis, led by freshmen Bianca Tucker and Colleen Sullivan, advanced to the NJCAA National Tournament in Tucson, Ariz., May 8-13.
The men’s tennis team was less fortunate, finishing fourth in the ACCAC Regional Tournament, one point shy of advancing to the national spotlight.
The women’s team survived a fleet of tough competition to finish third in the ACCAC Region I Tournament. The third place finish qualified the Lady Thunderbirds for nationals.
“We’re looking forward to nationals. It’s going to be tough, but they’re tough players themselves,” Women’s head coach Penny Powell said. “Day one we started preparing for nationals.”
Pima Community College won the Men’s regional title with 16 points. Glendale Community College and Scottsdale Community College tied with 14 points, while MCC finished with 13 points. The Men’s tennis team ended the season with eight wins and four losses.
“We did fairly well, not as strong as in the past,” men’s head coach Becky Opoien said. “It was a rebuilding year, we had a young team.”
The women’s tennis team finished the season with a conference record of 10 wins and two losses. Both defeats were to Scottsdale Community College by the same the same margin, 1-8.
“Dominated all other teams,” Powell said. “We beat Glendale twice.”
GCC held off SCC and MCC to win the regional tournament April 12. GCC finished with a four point advantage over MCC in the regional. MCC will not know who they play at nationals until May 7, according to Powell. MCC finished fourth in last year’s national tournament.
Tim Plossl, a freshman from Florida, said he has accomplished a lot playing tennis at MCC, but missing the national tournament was a misfortune.
“Disappointed, but it was a good learning experience. We played well, other teams stepped up a level and they were more consistent,” Plossl said.
Plossl was one of the bright spots for the men’s team. In the individual tournament he said he beat an undefeated player who did not give up a set all season. In the match Plossl lost the first set 4-6, but took the second 6-1, and later the game 7-6. “Proved our depth,” he said. “Nervous crept in, we had to win all the games that day (to advance to nationals).” The match lasted almost three hours.
Plossl captured the third flight doubles title along with Matt Schnelle. Adam Cohen and Thomas Johns won the doubles championship beating SCC.
Powell has made 20 trips to nationals and has plenty of experience to share with her players. Tucker is MCC’s number one server, Powell said. Tucker recently fought her way to the individual finals, but came up a few points short against SCC.
Powell has been coaching MCC for 30 years. This year’s third place finish in the regional tournament breaks a string of five consecutive regional championships.
“No, not a bad year, they did a good job and it was a lot of fun,” Powell said. “Other schools are strong, which is good, but you never know what’s going to happen.”
The women’s team has been practicing the last few weeks preparing for the national tournament while Plossl and his teammates can only dwell on what might have been.
“We came in ready to win, to place in the top three,” Plossl said. “We had a good team that really wanted to go to nationals.”
Volume
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