The Seattle University men’s and women’s tennis teams finished the tennis season this weekend in Texas at the Western Athletic Conference tournament, both teams ending their seasons in the tournament semifinals.
Women’s tennis (11-14, 1-4 WAC) started the tournament by beating Chicago State 4-0. Sophomore Michelle Lui and junior Kelli Woodman, the First Team All-WAC doubles team, started the victory with a 6-0 win at No. 1 doubles. The Redhawks continued by securing the doubles point with another win at No. 3 doubles, then went on to clinch the victory with wins at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 singles.
On Saturday, women’s tennis advanced to their second straight WAC championship semifinals but ended the tournament and their season with a 0-4 loss to No.1 seed New Mexico State. New Mexico State started the victory with wins in two of the three doubles matches, and then succeeded in taking No. 2, No. 5 and No. 3 singles.
“We had a close doubles point but ultimately could not finish it out,” said head coach Adam Reeb. “We started slow in singles but then got saved a bit with the rain delay. We came back even more determined after the delay but New Mexico State was just too tough for us today.”
This was the last season for senior Kristen James, but a large portion of the team will be returning next year.
Men’s tennis (11-15, 1-4 WAC) ended the season with a 0-4 loss to No.1 seed Missouri-Kansas City in the tournament semifinals on Saturday after beating Chicago State 4-0 the previous day. UMKC earned the first point with victories in the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles spots then sealed the victory with three straight wins in No.1, No. 6 and No. 4 singles.
“We had to regroup for the singles, which we did. Every guy played his heart out and I couldn’t be prouder,” Reeb said. “We were right there in singles and battling on every court. This team faced a lot of adversity this year with injuries but stayed resilient and kept working and getting better.”
Seattle U was victorious over Chicago State the previous day, earning a point with their two wins in doubles then sweeping Chicago State in singles, clinching the road to the semifinals with their success.
According to a press release, with te end of this season the men’s team tiedtheir Division 1 single season wins record in 2015-2016 and continue to hope for growth for next season.
The men’s and women’s teams played well overall and battled hard for their spots in the semifinal round of the tournament. The Redhawks continuously aim to improve in seasons to come.
The New Mexico State men’s team (12-9) was the winner of the WAC tournament, along with University of Texas Rio Grande Valley as the women’s WAC champions.
Tess may be reached at [email protected]

