Lakeland College

2006 Women's Tennis Preview

Athletics - posted on 9/1/2006

The Lakeland College women's tennis team is hoping to create a new tradition under first-year head coach Ben Oestreich.

The Muskies will have to overcome the loss of two key players, Sarah Czuratis and Mary Claire Stockman, from last year's line up.

Czuratis, a German native, joined the team after the season started and proceeded to win all four of her matches at No. 1 singles. Stockman played at No. 2 last season, but due to a challenging academic schedule she won't be playing tennis this fall.

"That's going to be a pretty big loss because she's a great kid and an emotional leader," said Oestreich of Stockman. "I was looking for her to be a leader, so hopefully some of our returnees will step up."

Among the returnees is senior Lisa Hentges (5-9, Detroit Lakes, Minn./Detroit Lakes). "Lisa's our eldest returnee," explained Oestreich. "She likely will play No. 1. She is going to have to step up and be a big leader this year."

Sophomore Brittani Kazik (5-2, Green Bay/Green Bay West) and senior Andrea Schuchart (5-1, Marinette/Marinette) will also return to the Muskies' lineup. Senior Jennifer Huang (5-9, Suriname, South America) is another returnee, although she didn't play any varsity matches last year.

Lindsay Crum (5-2, Negaunee, Mich./Negaunee) headlines the freshman class coming in. Crum played varsity tennis for the Miners for four years, and she won the All-Upper Peninsula Tennis Sportsmanship Award.

"I'm hoping our freshmen can step up and fill some roles, especially with the loss of Sarah and Marie Claire," said Oestreich.

Cornti Jablenski (5-10, Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) is the other newcomer. "She is going to be a great asset and seems really committed to improvement and the team concept," said Oestreich. "Early on in practice she's stepped up and started to be a vocal leader."

"I hope these girls coming in can get some positive started," said Oestreich. "The goal for the team this year is to come together and be the ones that build up the program."

Oestreich's long-range goals are returning to the success of the team that won a conference championship in 2003.

"If you invest then you feel ownership and then you have pride," explained Oestreich about his coaching philosophy. "We are going to do things this year to invest. We are going to invest in each other through team bonding activities and fundraising. I want them to feel like they are a part of something, I want them to feel like this is their team … to own it and feel proud. I want our seniors to say 'While a conference championship or national championship is out of reach, I was a part of the team that turned things around.' I want this to be a year of change."

One change for the Muskies this year is their new conference affiliation, the Northern Athletics Conference, a merger of the LMC and the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference (NIIC).

"I'm excited because on the women's side there is a deeper line-up," said Oestreich. "We have nine conference matches now which helps with scheduling. We were already playing most of these teams in non-conference, so it doesn't change the schedule much. However, anytime you add teams it increases your recruiting base and increases your talent pool which overall increases competitiveness in the conference."

Another positive aspect of the new conference is a more competition at the conference tournament.

"I'm really excited to go to the conference tournament and actually have a tournament," explained Oestreich. "In years past you had four to six teams at the tournament, so you have one mishap and you're automatically looking at finishing in the bottom. I think out of this we'll have true conference champ. In two years, then the winner will have a bid to the National tournament which will really up the ante for the conference."

In the conference, as well as the regular schedule, the Muskies will face some stiff competition from the very beginning.

"We start off the year with two teams whose traditions are pretty strong in Lawrence and Ripon," said Oestreich. "From there we won't be looking at anyone better than them."

Since the NAC tournament is October 7-8, the Muskies must get their matches in before that weekend, which results in a hectic schedule. Lakeland plays every Saturday, most of them doubleheaders, and has meets every Wednesday, some Fridays and two Tuesdays.

"This year's freshman will get varsity experience," said Oestreich. "Then next year I can bring in more recruits to help them. I want to get 10-12 players so there is more of a challenge ladder."

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