The level of competition that the University of Utah women?s tennis team will be facing starting today will be immensely tougher than the BYU Invitational the Utes competed in two weeks ago.
The Central Region Championships, in Tulsa, Okla., will be the next test for the Utes.
Utah coach John Tsumas hopes six players will compete for the Utes in the tourney.
?Sheri Esrock, Ellen Svensson, Cassie Kasteler, Linn Ronnberg and hopefully Irini Kotoglou will compete in singles competition in Tulsa,? Tsumas said.
Kotoglou is nursing a shoulder injury and has not played in any singles competitions this year.
The big surprise for the Utes has been the freshman Svensson, who won the backdraw at the BYU Invitational.
She defeated BYU?s Dominique Reynolds, who was ranked No. 21 in the region last year and was named to the All-Conference Team. Svensson also defeated Colorado State’s Amanda Bartz, who was ranked 12th in the central region and 21st nationally.
The competition will be much stiffer for the Utes this time, as they will square off with: Oklahoma State, BYU, Tulsa, New Mexico, Kansas State, Nebraska, Kansas, Boise State, Colorado, Southwest Missouri State, New Mexico State, Colorado State, Missouri and Iowa State.
Although the Utes will probably not contend for any titles, Tsumas is looking for many things to improve upon in this week’s tournament.
?We are right there in the matches, but we have to learn to finish the opponent off,? Tsumas said.
The Utes might not get many chances to finish players off because of the amount of talent at the tournament, however, the Utes should not come home without a win.