USD Women's Tennis 2000

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HEAD COACH SHERRI STEPHENS

Now in he r 16th season as head coach of the Uni vers ity of San Diego women's tenni s team, Sherri Stephens has turned the USO program into one of the best, mos t res pected programs in the nati o n. With Coach Stephens leade rship , the To reros have proved they can compete with the bes t prog rams in the nati on -- US O has ad vanced to the NCAA Tournament nine times since 1989. Last season he r squad was se lected to the NCAA Tournament fo r the fifth stra ig ht

season, with juni or Zuzana Lesenarova winning her first NCAA Indi vidua l Champi onship and earning A ll -Ame ri ca hono rs fo r the third stra ight season. Fres hman Katarina Va lkyova proved she will be a force in co ll eg iate women's tenni s afte r she adva nced to -the NCAA qua rte rs and a lso earned All -Ameri ca hono rs. Hi ghli g hting the To reros 14-11 record was the team's 5-4 upset over then 4th-ranked Cal Be rke ley on March 19th at USO West Courts. 0 Stephens' 2000 team beg ins the spring season with a No. 29 nati ona l team ranking -- seni o r Zuzana Lesenarova

beg ins the season w ith a nati ona l sing les ranking of No. I, sophomo re Katarina Va lkyova is a No.3 pre-season pi ck, and the Lesenarova/Va lkyova doubl es combinati on is ra nked No. 2 in the nati on. Stephens arri ved at USO in the Fa ll of 1984 and immed iate ly be– gan to re-shape the wome n's tenni s fo rtunes. Over the past fo urteen sea– sons against some of the nati o n's best, Stephe ns has acc umul ated a w in– loss record of 197- 13 1 (. 601 winning percentage), fini shing a ll fo urteen seasons with .500 o r be tte r mark s. During thi s time her teams have ad– vanced to the NCAA Tournament nine times ( 1989, 1990, 199 1, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 ). The Toreros have fini shed amo ng the nati on's top-25 in e ight seasons, with a hi gh of # 14 in 1989 ( 18-8 overall record ) -- that was USD's first team to adva nce to the NCAA's. S tephens has a lso had fi ve To re ros rece ive a tota l of ten CAA A ll -Ameri ca hon– o rs: Tonya Fulle r ( 199 1), Laura Ri chards ( 1992, 1993), Juli e McKeon ( 1992, 1993, 1994), and most recentl y seni o r Zuzana Lesenarova ( 1997, 1998, 1999), and Katarina Va lkyova ( 1999). We ll res pected among her pee rs in the coaching profess ion, She rri was a featured speake r at the 1992 and 1993 ITA Coaches' Conventi on. Twice she has had the pri vil ege o f coaching at the Ol ympi c Spo rts Fes ti– val ( 1993/South , 1995/Wes t), w ith he r '95 squad winning the go ld meda l. She was named the 1994 Female Coach of the Yea r by the USTA, South– ern Cali fo rni a Secti on/San Diego Di stri c t.

A native of Phoenix , Ari zona, Stephens was a nati o na ll y ranked pl ayer on the junio r c ircuit before enro lling at the Uni ve rsity of Ari zona. Afte r compl eting her co ll eg iate play ing caree r in 1979, she began he r coac hing career as an ass istant for the Ari zona Wildcats.

Sherri Stephens Year-By-Year Record At Sau Diego Year Record Final Rank Year Record Final Rank 1999 * 14-11 #28 1991" 12-12 t-# 18 1998* 12-9 #31 1990' 0 ' 12-1 2 t-# 17 199 7* 16-12 #36 1989 '' 18-8 # 14 1996' 0 ' 15-9 #25 1988 15-9 1995 '' 16-8 #24 198 7 14-10 1994 14-5 #21 1986 13-12 1993 11-9 #24 1985 4-26 1992 * 15-5 # 16 Total 201-15 7 (.561 Win %) ''Denotes NCAA Tournament Team

2000 University of San Diego Women 's Tennis -- Home lo Zu::.ana Lesenarm,a, 1999 NCA A Division l Natio11al Champion