It was a remarkable year for the Lindenwood athletic program in 2009-10. Over the next 10 weeks, www.lindenwoodlions.com will bring you the top 10 moments of the last school year.
The No. 10 moment comes from the Lady Lion tennis program and its improbable win at the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament.
The Lindenwood women’s tennis team had one of the most surprising victories in 2009-10 when it won the 2010 HAAC Tournament. The Lady Lions were the fourth seed and upset two teams on the way to its third all-time HAAC Championship.
Before we go any further, let’s get a little background of the team’s regular season. After a 1-2 fall campaign, the Lady Lions began the spring on a high note with a first-place finish in the Principia Tournament and two straight dual wins. After a loss to NCAA Division III power Washington University, Lindenwood tested itself with a tough spring break trip in Florida. The Lady Lions dropped their first three contests but found its swing midway through the trip and won the final three games. Using that momentum, Lindenwood went 4-2 for the rest of the season and finished the regular season with a 10-8 record.
Allison Gilles was 3-0 in singles matches at the HAAC Tournament.
Now that you have some background, let’s get into the No. 10 moment of the 2009-10 athletic year. The HAAC women’s tennis tournament would take place in Marshall, Mo. and Mother Nature would cause issues all week.
The Lady Lions, who went 3-2 in conference play during the regular season, were the No. 4 seed and defeated No. 5 seed Evangel in the first round. Rainy weather hit after that, forcing the cancellation of play for the rest of the weekend.
When the tournament finally got back underway, the Lady Lions faced William Jewell, a team which beat them earlier in the season by a 6-3 margin. The doubles portion of the match did not start the way Lindenwood would have liked with the Cardinals winning two of the three matches.
With the two doubles losses, the Lady Lions needed to win four out of the six singles matches.
Raminta Kazemekaityte and
Allison Gilles were victorious in the No. 3 and No. 2 singles, respectively, and
Andrea Aguilar won the No. 6 singles.
William Jewell’s Jamie Baker came from a set down to beat
Sarah Sharpe in the No. 5 singles, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. William Jewell’s Carlie Bisesi would tie the match up at four with a win over Lindenwood’s
Severine DeBeuf.
With the contest tied, it would come down to the No. 1 singles match between Lindenwood’s
Adela Slovakova and William Jewell’s Nikki Chambers. Over the past three years, the Lady Lions had never beaten Chambers, who is an all-conference performer. But on a hot and humid afternoon, Slovakova would outlast Chambers in a three hour marathon, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-4.
Even though Lindenwood has had problems with Chambers in the past, head coach Bill Vahle wasn’t completely surprised that Slovakova got the best of her on this day.
“I was a little surprised, but Adela showed a tenacity under pressure which I hadn't seen before,” said Vahle. “To be fair, she had been injured earlier, but there was more patience and resolve to her game than had been the case earlier in the year.”
With Slovakova’s big win the Lady Lions would move onto the finals against the Graceland Yellowjackets.
Once again, the rain forced a delay in the championship match which would finally be held at Marshall High School under the lights.
Earlier in the season, the Lady Lions upended the Yellowjackets so the team knew that they had a chance to become conference champs.
“I actually thought we would win,” said sophomore Allison Gilles. “I knew we could beat Graceland because we beat them earlier in the year, although I know it was close.”
Adela Slovakova won two big singles matches to help the Lady Lions win the HAAC.
The Lady Lions would start off on the right foot against the Yellowjackets by winning the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to take a 2-1 lead heading into singles.
“I thought to myself that this might happen, we just need three singles wins,” said Vahle.
Gilles and Kazemekaityte were once again victorious in No. 2 and No. 3 singles so the Lady Lions were just one win away from becoming HAAC champs and moving onto the national tournament.
Even though the Lady Lions were just one win away the outcome was very much in doubt because Lindenwood lost the No. 4 singles match, were losing the No. 6 contest, and the No. 5 match was in a third set.
For the second straight match it came down to the team’s best players. Slovakova would take on Carolina Verdezoto in the deciding match. She would beat Verdezoto in two sets, 6-4 and 7-5 and the Lady Lions were crowned HAAC Champions.
“When you win the conference, there is a split second of disbelief while everyone absorbs what just happened, followed by a wild celebration as players who are watching or were playing on other courts rush over to the court where the match was decided,” said Vahle about the win. “All I can say is, win or lose, it's very emotional. They scream, they dance, it's great when you win.”
“When it came down to Adela, I felt pretty good,” said Gilles. “She's so tough and determined that I knew we had a shot at winning the whole thing.”
With the win the Lady Lions moved onto the 2010 NAIA Women’s Tennis National Tournament in Mobile, Alabama where the team would fall 6-3 in the opening round to Northwood (Fla.).