May 10, 2007

Cowley claims three titles at
NJCAA Women's Tennis National Tournament

Completing the most dominating season in the history of the Cowley College women’s tennis program, freshman Kasia Siwosz completed an unbeaten season by capturing the No. 1 singles title Thursday at the NJCAA Women’s Tennis National Tournament in Tucson, Ariz. Cowley’s No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams also finished stellar seasons by capturing national titles.

The three national titles helped Cowley finish fourth at the national tournament with 38 points. Lee College ended up taking home the team title, while Hillsborough and Tyler Community College finished second and third, respectively.

“We are disappointed because we did not win the title, but we are excited because we could not have done much more the last couple of days,” Cowley head coach Brad Louderback said.

Siwosz defeated Hillsborough Community College’s Hiroko Nishikawa 6-3, 6-3 to claim the No. 1 singles title.

“She did a tremendous job all year and to finish it off as a national champion is great,” Louderback said. “I am extremely happy for her and for Cowley.”
Siwosz did not drop a set the entire season.

“I am happy I won all my matches, I feel great,” Siwosz said.

Siwosz then teamed with Karolina Porizkova to finish off a stellar season at No. 1 doubles. The duo defeated Nishikawa and Mizuho Nishimura from Hillsborough Community College 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in the finals and lost just one match all season.

“They fought hard for each other and communicated well on the court,” Louderback said.

Hanane Toumi and Juliana Franco finished off an unbeaten season in doubles play as they beat Lee College’s Natalie Araya and Stephanie Rodriguez 6-0, 6-4 in the finals of No. 2 doubles. The duo finishes the season with a record of 18-0.

“Juliana and Hanane had good chemistry on the court and just had a great season,” Louderback said.

Toumi, Franco, Siwosz, and Porizkova earned first-team All-American honors for their efforts.

Cowley won eight of 10 matches during the regular season, captured the Region VI title, and capped the year with the fourth place national finish.

“It was a very gratifying season, I am excited about what we did this year,” Louderback said.

The team did all of this despite having only two sophomores on the team. Toumi and Katie McKee are the only players the Lady Tigers will lose to graduation.
“They contributed greatly over the last two years and have been great student athletes,” Louderback said.