11/7/08

Lady Hawks Ranked # 1 in the NJCAA National Poll!  The HCC Tennis Team will start the 2008-2009 season ranked first following their National Championship performance last May in Tucson, Arizona.  This is the third time in four years the Hawks have held the # 1 spot (previous in 2007 and 2008).

In individual ranking, freshman Olivia Howlett takes the top spot in singles after winning the ITA Small College Nationals this fall and is closely followed by teammate Nadzeya Bondar ranked 5th.  The two who are doubles partner are ranked 3rd.  Other notables are Katy Zaleski (41st), Courtney Spafford (43rd) and Laure Bassi (62nd).  In doubles Zaleski and Spafford are ranked 22nd and Jasmyne and Laure Bassi come in at 26.  For complete rankings please visit:

Intercollegiate Tennis Association

GO HAWKS!!

10/18/08

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS AGAIN!  This past weekend Lady Hawks Olivia Howlett and Nadzeya Bondar competed at the ITA Small College Championships in Mobile, Alabama.  For the past four years, the Hawks have reached the semi-finals for both singles and doubles and have come away with 2 Doubles titles and 2 singles finals.  That changed this year as Olivia Howlett becomes the first HCC player to claim the Junior College title with a statement win over # 1 seed Nadia Lee from Lee College 6-1, 6-2.  "I can't say enough about how well Olivia played this week" claimed her proud coach.  "She has gotten better every match she has played."  In doubles the duo lost in the semi's to Cowley County 6-2, 6-4, but went on to finish third by beating Hinds Community College 6-2, 6-2.  This tournament concludes the Hawks fall schedule and they will look ahead to spring action which begins at the end of January.

10/12/08

The Hawks competed at the C.L. Varner Memorial Tournament hosted by Rollins College.  The tournament consisted of eight other teams, Armstrong Atlantic, Barry, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Southern, Nova Southeastern, Palm Beach Atlantic, Rollins, University of Central Florida.  In singles, Olivia Howlett, seeded 7th reached the semi-finals by upsetting # 2 seed from UCF Andrea Yacaman in the quarters 6-4, 6-3.  Howlett then played Gabriella Kovas from Armstrong Atlantic and lost 6-0, 1-6, 6-4.  "I thought Olivia played well before reaching the semi's," Coach Berryhill said.  "She just couldn't put it together late in a match in a tournament I thought she was capable of winning."

The Hawks pair of Howlett and Nadzeya Bondar were also seeded # 3 in doubles, but were upset in the quarters by the duo of Hungerford and Softic who went on to reach the final.  "It was another match we had our opportunities to win and we didn't come through."

Coach Berryhill also saw some promise from freshmen Ashley Albro and Courtney Spafford and saw the doubles start to come together led by sophomores Katy Zaleski and Laure Bassi.  "We are farther along right now in doubles and singles then we were in April of last year" explained Berryhill.  "I think we are on to something."

Up next for the Hawks is the ITA Small College Championships at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.  Olivia Howlett will represent the Hawks in singles and will team with Nadzeya partner to contend for the doubles crown.

9/21/2008

The defending National Champions kicked off the 2008-2009 campaign in impression fashion at the ITA Regional held at Central Florida Community College in Ocala.  Top seed Olivia Howlett reached the finals where she met teammate and doubles partner Nadzeya Bondar, seeded fourth.  Howlett defeated Bondar 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.  She joins Hiroko Nishikawa (2006) and Nachell Proctor (2007) in taking the singles title for three consecutive years.

In doubles, Howlett and Bondar teamed up as the top seed and defeated fourth seeded from Florida Community College-Jacksonville, Alex Glebova and Jessica McAtee in the finals.  The pair overcame a 4-7 deficit to win the finals in dramatic fashion 9-8.  Coach Chad Berryhill said following the match, “I give a lot of credit to the girls from Jacksonville.  They are a headache to play and we were lucky to come out on top.  I was just happy our girls kept fighting because this was the first weekend they ever played together.” Howlett and Bondar will now travel to the ITA Small College Championships October 16-19th held in Mobile, Alabama.  The Hawks have been successful advancing to the Small College Championships winning the doubles National Championship in 2005 and 2006 while placing third in 2007.

Also finding success over the weekend was Katy Zaleski, the flight A back draw winner who defeated teammate Courtney Spafford in the final as well as Jasmyne Smith who won the flight B back draw over teammate Paige Palinkas.  Katy Zaleski is a returning player from the 2008 National Champion team.

The Hawks next tournament test will take place at the C.L. Varner Memorial Tournament October 10-12th hosted by Rollins College in Winter Park.

2008 STATE CHAMPIONS and NJCAA National CHampions For two years, the Hillsborough Community College women's tennis team had to watch another program walk away with the national title.

In 2006 and 2007, the Hawks were the runners-up.

Thursday, however, the Hawks finally could say they were no longer second-best after winning the 2008 NJCAA Division I National Title.
HCC led all teams with 45 points, one ahead of second-place Tyler Junior College.

"It was a pretty rough road for us," HCC coach Chad Berryhill said. "As of Tuesday we had eight of nine flights still competing and six lost on Wednesday. We had some things fall our way with a few teams getting some upsets."
Sophomore Eva Sambrano, who will play at Florida Gulf Coast next spring, walked away a two-time national champion after she defeated Tyler's Sureena Weir 6-2, 6-3 to win the No. 4 singles bracket. Sambrano teamed with freshman Katherine Laine to take the No. 3 doubles championship with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Barton County's Nyska Etienne and Shea Schmidt.

4/19/08 STATE CHAMPIONS! The tennis team competed this weekend at the FCCAA State Tournament and became back-to-back State Champions. The Hawks won 5 out of 6 singles championships and 1 doubles. The Hawks will now focus their attention on Rollins College this Thursday in Winter Park before heading to the National Tournament in Tucson, Arizona. The Hawks enter the tournament ranked # 2 in the country. Go Hawks!