University of Southern Indiana Women’s Tennis was predicted to finish sixth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division in 2020 Thursday afternoon per the league’s preseason coaches poll.
The Screaming Eagles came in fifth in the GLVC East in 2019, coming one match shy of qualifying for the GLVC Tournament, despite accumulating an overall record of 5-15, 1-4 in league play.
Senior duo Lauren Hambrock and Alex Jamison highlight USI’s returners from the 2019 campaign that did not feature any graduating seniors. Hambrock has collected 21 victories in singles action in her career, working almost exclusively in the No. 1 slot since her freshman year while Jamison has amassed 23 career wins overall.
Despite dropping its lone dual match last fall to the University of Charleston (WV), USI found individual success in the Eastern Illinois University Panther Invitational and the USI Invitational. Freshman Kylie Skepnek posted four victories at EIU, including a 3-0 singles mark; Hambrock collected three victories at EIU before leading the Eagles in a dominant showing at the USI Invitational, posting 6-0 overall mark alongside sophomore Shelby Braselton.
With the entrance of Lindenwood University and Southwest Baptist University into the GLVC for the 2019-20 athletic year, there has been a shuffle in the division setup from the 2019 season, where the GLVC East now features eight teams as opposed to six a season ago.
Along with this divisional shift came a new eight-match league slate where the Eagles will do battle with the other seven East division squads, along with the University of Missouri-St. Louis of the West division.
USI Women’s Tennis opens the spring side of the 2019-20 campaign with four straight home matches starting February 7 as the Screaming Eagles welcome the Eastern Michigan University Eagles to the Evansville Tennis Center.
2020 Women’s Tennis Preseason Poll (First Place Votes)
EAST
1. Indianapolis 112 (14)
2. Lewis 88 (1)
3. Bellarmine 84
4. Illinois Springfield 69
5. Maryville 69
6. Southern Indiana 46
7. Lindenwood 41
8. McKendree 26
WEST
1. Drury 90 (6)
2. Southwest Baptist 89 (9)
3. Missouri-St. Louis 74
4. Rockhurst 61
5. Quincy 42
6. William Jewell 34
7. Truman State 23
