1998 Miracle Yearbook

by Mark Womack VVomen's Tennis The Lady Jacket tennis program enjoyed another successful season despite havingthe youngestteaminPamJohnson's 22 years as head coach. 'The 13-player rosterconsistedofjustonejunior,sixsopho- mores, and six freshmen, but the youth movement produced a 10-2 overall record and a runner-up showing in the Mid-Ohio Conference. Cedarville wasimpressivein roll- ing to eight9-0 victories,a noteworthy 4- 3win atOhio Wesleyan,anda7-2decision at MountSt.Joseph. Ittook agoodteam to beat the Jackets. They lost 5-4 at Transylvania University without the ser- vicesofoneoftheirtop players. They were also nipped 5-4 at four-time defending MOC champion Walsh University. "Our team matured a lot during the season," recalled Johnson. "We used four sophomores and two freshmen as our main lineup and many times we faced experienced opponents. We have every reason to be optimistic about the future." Number one player Casey Ruffin posted a 10-3 record during her sophomore season. She was named to the All-MOC Team in singles after run- ning her career record to 20-5. Freshman Katie Koeppen,who played in thesecond position,and sopho- more Ginger Butler,who held down the third spot, earned All-MOC honors in both singles and doubles. They had a 11-2 mark as the squad's top doubles pairing. In singles, Butler had a team- best 12-1 record for the second straight year and Koeppen was 9-3. Freshman Jenny Brayer(12-2 record) and sopho- mores Beth Wolfe(10-2)and Julie Gre- gory(9-5)rounded outthetopsix singles spots. Asa team overall,the Lady Jack- ets had a 66-18 record in singles and a dominant 37-5 mark in doubles. In the MOCTournament,Walsh won the event with 43 points and was followed by Cedarville (37), Malone (26.5),Tiffin(15.5),and Shawnee State (13). The Yellow Jackets had players in all six singles finals and in two of the three doubles finals. Butler was the No. 3 Flight singles champion and did not lose a set in the process. Wolfe and Brayer rolled to the doubles title in the No. 3 Flight and finished the year with a 9-1 record. luck, Women's Tennis: Row 1:(kneeling 1-r) Beth Moore,Katie Koeppen,Casey Ruffin, Angela Mast,Jenny Brayer,Beth Wolfe Row 2:(standing 1-r) Student-Trainer Siobhan Fagan,Tarnmy Dosey,Ginger Butler, Jennifer Elliott, Joyce Boggs,Adaline Shultix, Julie Gregory,Head Coach Pam Johnson 250 athletic events