Tigers Season Comes to a Close, Earning Third Place

Bryan Heft	Casey Clagett

The Tiger women's tennis team enjoyed its best season in more than a decade after placing third in the 2001 NCAC tournament. Individual accolades were sure to follow and did last week as sophomore Erin Beach (Dayton, Ohio/Vandalia Butler) and sophomore Shannon Oliphant (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) earned All-NCAC honors.Beach, a second-team choice last year as a freshman, earned first-team honors in 2001 for her 17-8 record at No. 1 singles. Oliphant, also a second-team choice in her first collegiate season, was named honorable mention after finishing with a 17-7 record at No. 2 singles.

On the men's side, the Tigers also finished the 2001 season strong with a third-place in the NCAC tournament at Oberlin last weekend. During the tourney, Wittenberg recorded four-match sweeps over Allegheny and Wooster but weren't able to overcome perennial conference power Kenyon in the semifinals.A week after the Tigers defeated the Lords in a non-league dual match, Wittenberg fell to Kenyon in the semis as the Tigers lost two of three three-set singles matches and a hotly contested doubles point in the loss to Kenyon. The lone winners were senior Bryan Heft (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) at No. 1 singles and sophomore Eric Cusick (Lima, Ohio/Senior) at No. 3 singles.

Heft was named All-NCAC first-team after compiling a 22-4 overall record in 2001. It was his fourth consecutive all-conference selection. His career may not be over - as a nationally ranked player on a team that didn't qualify for postseason play, he now must wait to hear if he will get an individual bid to the NCAA Division III championships.

Also earning all-conference honors was sophomore Casey Clagett (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs), who had a 14-9 record at No. 2 singles, and Cusick, who was 15-6 at No. 3 singles. Clagett was second team and Cusick was honorable mention. In addition, the No. 1 doubles team of Heft and Clagett made second team all-conference after putting together a 16-7 overall mark.

For the season, no player on either team finished with a losing singles record, and no doubles team that played more than five matches was below .500. Both teams expect to lose just two starters for the 2001-02 school year.