University of Houston Athletics
Fall Season Review
11/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Nov. 10, 2004
HOUSTON - The 2004 Fall Season got the Cougar tennis team off on the right track under new head coach John Severance by claiming five tournament titles, posting a combined 78-41 record, and grabbing a Conference USA Player of the Month citation.
Starting in early October, the Cougars began the fall season at the San Diego Tournament, followed by the ITA Southwest Regional Tournament, the UTSA Invitational, and finished off by hosting the Cougar Fall Classic.
"We had a strong fall season," said Severance. "All the girls from our freshmen to our seniors played well and should only get better."
With four returning athletes from last season's squad and the addition of two freshmen, the Cougars went an impressive 27-7 in doubles action, which included a 9-0 performance at the UTSA Invitational, and championship performances in the Red and White Doubles Flights at the Cougar Fall Classic by the team of senior Diana Martin and Kami Miller and the freshman duo of Tiffany McLoughlin and Sach Gumbs, respectively.
At the Cougar Fall Classic, Houston went 10-1 in doubles action, with the lone loss coming in the championship match between Miller/Martin and fellow Cougar teammates senior Biljan Dimovska and junior Yolandi Terblanche.
The singles play of the Cougars was very strong in the fall season where the team posted a 51-34 mark, with three tournament championships. "We had a very strong fall," said Severance. "In a fall season, 50 wins is the benchmark to see if your team is going to be pretty good or not."
Miller, who went 14-2 in the fall, began the fall season with an undefeated run at the San Diego Tournament to claim the Singles B-Flight Championship and earned herself her first career C-USA Player of the Month award for her performance.
She then went and won three straight matches to earn a qualifying spot in the Southwest Regional Tournament, went 3-0 at the UTSA Tournament, and was 4-0 at the Cougar Fall Classic to earn her second tournament championship of the fall season.
Martin also posted an unblemished 4-0 mark to claim her respective flight championships at the Cougar Fall Classic, the first title as a Cougar for the former J.C. transfer, and Dimovska, after going 3-0 at the UTSA Tournament, advanced to the championship match before bowing out in a tough 7-6, 6-1 loss.
With the success his team had in their first outing with him at the helm, Severance feels pretty good about this group of girls; he helped to recruit as an assistant coach over the last three years. "We have some good girls on this team and we're adding two more for the spring season who will certainly be competing for spots," said Severance.
The Cougars will begin the regular season in February when dual match competition begins. Serverance said, "We have a strong season, schedule and conference coming but with this group of girls we are looking to do bigger and better things."
