1997 Miracle Yearbook

The 1997 women's tennis players boast one ofthe most successful seasons ofany Cedarville college sports team. The Lady Jacketscompleted the season with arecord of 11-1. The women'steamspentspring breakin Florida,trainingandcreatinganewline-up. Dr. Pam Johnson, Professor of Physical EducationandDirectorofAcademicAssis- tance,coachedtheyoungteam.Elevenofthe fifteenmembersweresophomoresandfresh- men.Goingintotheseason,Johnsonworried that youth would be a liability. Soon she learned that her fears were unfounded."It was a wonderful season. They responded very well,"Johnson said. Johnson wasassisted bypart-timefaculty memberDr.Delyte Morris.EleanorTaylor assisted and led the Bible studies. Fourofthe six singlesspots wereheld by freshmen.Casey Ruffin(numbertwo),fin- ished her first season 10-2. At the number three position, Ginger Butler was unde- Match Point Women's Tennis feated during the regular season. Her only losscameduring theMOCfinals atWalsh. Senior Hasmine Gmuerlead the team,and aftertwoyearsatnumbertwo,Gmuerstepped into the number one singles position. In addition,shepickedupdoubleswithRuffin. Both made theMOCAll-Conference team andtookhomeCedarville'sloneconference titleatnumbertwodoubles,wheretheywere undefeated. Butler and sophomore Jodie Du'Monceaux comprised the number one doubles team with an 8-3 record. Highlightsforthe yearincluded victories over MOC rival Ohio Wesleyan and local nemesis Wittenburg,neither ofwhom had lostto Cedarvillein several years.On April 21,four ofthe Springfield matches went gruelingthreesets,threeofwhich werewo by Cedarville.A week earlier,on April 15 Cedarville scored acomeback victory,5-4 against Ohio Wesleyan. Singles victorie camefrom Ruffin,Butler,and Wolfe. Inclementweatherwasthenegativefacto atthetennisteam'sonlylosses.Inthegam against Walsh,rain forced them to play o unfamiliarindoor courts where the wome fell,4-5.VictorsforCedarvillewereGmuer Butler,Gmuer/Ruffin,and sister duo Be and MaryWolfe.Thesamescenariobrough the season to a bittersweetend attheMO tournament. The Walsh University squa was at home on their indoor courts an repeated as conference champions with points.Cedarvilletrailed byonly six points Johnsonsaidthisloss willfueltheyounge players toreturn next yearand win. Rebecca Ritzel 4 row 1(1-r):JodiDu'Monceaux,RachelEnglish,ChristineWiesert,Kerni VanderMolen,JenniferStankiewicz.row2: DebbieBaker,DarcieBlakemore,Angel Mast,JulieGregory,ElizabethWolfe,CaseyRuffin.row3: GingerButler,HasmineGmuer,AmandaMudrey,MaryWolfe,AssistantCoachEleanorTaylor Assistant Coach Dr.Dee Morris,Head Coach Dr.Pam Johnson. 224 atfireties ttik