THREE BULLDOG PLAYERS GARNER ALL-LEAGUE LAURELS

Trio Leads FSU To Share Of Overall 2002 GLIAC Championship

Suzanne Batten	Barbora Jilkova	Laura Schaefer

Three current members of the 2002 Ferris State University women's tennis team earned All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) recognition last weekend (Oct. 25-26) in conjunction with the 2002 GLIAC Tournament at the Midland Tennis Center in Midland, Mich.

Senior Suzanne Batten (Medina, Ohio) and junior Barbora Jilkova (Prague, Czech Republic) both garnered first-team all-league laurels while freshman Laura Schaefer (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) was an honorable mention selection in voting conducted by the league's head coaches. The trio led the Bulldogs to the 2002 GLIAC Tournament title and a share of the league's overall championship, which was Ferris' 18th league title in the last 19 years.

Batten compiled a 13-2 overall singles mark this fall, including an 11-2 record at the number two singles flight. She was 14-4 overall in doubles action and teamed with Jilkova to post a 13-4 mark at the number one doubles spot.

Jilkova, a 2001-02 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II Doubles All-America performer, advanced to the semifinal round in singles play at the 2002 Omni Hotels/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Great Lakes Championships (Oct. 4-6) at the Indianapolis Tennis Center in Indianapolis, Ind. She was 15-3 overall in singles play and 14-4 in doubles action during the fall campaign.

Schaefer registered an 11-3 overall ledger at the number four singles flight. In doubles action, she was 12-3 overall which included an 11-3 record at the number two flight.

Ferris finished the fall campaign at 13-1 overall under third-year head coach Dave Ramos. FSU's only loss came Sept. 21 at Northern Michigan (8-1) in Marquette, Mich. However, the Bulldogs rebounded to edge the Wildcats 5-2 in the GLIAC final last Saturday (Oct. 26) after posting earlier tournament wins over Michigan Tech (5-0) and Grand Valley State (6-1) last Friday (Oct. 25). Ferris and NMU shared the GLIAC's overall title as Northern Michigan won the regular-season crown.

FSU has presently won 175 of its last 178 league regular-season encounters. The Bulldogs won 162 consecutive conference outings from Sept. 4, 1984, to Oct. 12, 2001, when Northwood ended FSU's streak with a 6-3 triumph in Midland. Ferris has advanced to the NCAA-II regional tournament seven consecutive years (1996-02) and has claimed a bid to the NCAA-II Championships three of the past four campaigns.