2008 Woodie Awards
Young talent strong on the court
Zachary Groves
Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: Sports
Carli Connors may already be channeling her inner tennis champion like a fellow legend, whose name is also Connors.
Jimmy Connors, a local tennis celebrity who won the U.S. Open and Wimbledon championships during his career, also happens to be her uncle.
While her father, John, is her coach and go-to guy for tennis advice, Carli said her uncle gives her tips whenever he is in town. She said the buzz the family tennis lineage creates, to her, is not a big deal.
"It's just like he's just my uncle," she said. "I try to put myself in other people's shoes, but I don't know. I can't make that connection."
Connors, a freshman, leads a relatively young SIUE women's tennis squad, which includes four freshmen and four sophomores. Despite the lack of collegiate experience, Connors reached the quarterfinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Great Lakes Championships at the University of Indianapolis in mid-September.
She fell to Drury University's Laure Piquemal in two sets, 6-2 and 6-1. Connors said reaching the championship round would have been great, but for a first-timer, being a quarterfinalist is not too bad.
"I wanted to make it that far, but it's pretty amazing because it's my first college tournament," Connors said. "And I wasn't seeded and I beat some top seeds in the tournament, so that's pretty good, too."
SIUE Head Coach Kyler Updyke said the tournament was the first time the women participated in an ITA-based event since he took over as coach in 2006. The Cougars had not competed through ITA since the 2001-02 season.
"To be quite honest, it's probably (been) 15-20 years that anybody had done this well on the women's side," Updyke said of Connors's performance.
Not only did Connors advance in the singles circuit, but the doubles team of sophomore Kelsey Laird and freshman Laura Horning took to the second round before dropping their match, 8-1, to Northwood University's Ashley Neumann and Julia Goncalves.
The Cougars also pounded Lindenwood University 9-0 in regular season play during the weekend. Connors, Horning, Laird, sophomore Stephanie Clark and freshmen Ali Wulfers and Amanda Niebur, all cruised by their opponents in two sets.
SIUE's doubles teams also swept by LU in two sets.
"We came out really strong and finished strong," Horning said.
Updyke said Lindenwood hardly put up much of a fight as the matches came to a close.
"Overpowered is a good word," Updyke said in describing the opponent's situation.
The Cougars wrap up their fall portion of the season Friday and Saturday at the Western Illinois University Invitational in Macomb and will not compete again until March. Horning said with the program going Division I after this year, her teammates will get a decent look at who they might face down the road.
"It's good to see what kind of competition we're facing next year and what we're going to be put up against," Horning said.
Jimmy Connors, a local tennis celebrity who won the U.S. Open and Wimbledon championships during his career, also happens to be her uncle.
While her father, John, is her coach and go-to guy for tennis advice, Carli said her uncle gives her tips whenever he is in town. She said the buzz the family tennis lineage creates, to her, is not a big deal.
"It's just like he's just my uncle," she said. "I try to put myself in other people's shoes, but I don't know. I can't make that connection."
Connors, a freshman, leads a relatively young SIUE women's tennis squad, which includes four freshmen and four sophomores. Despite the lack of collegiate experience, Connors reached the quarterfinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Great Lakes Championships at the University of Indianapolis in mid-September.
She fell to Drury University's Laure Piquemal in two sets, 6-2 and 6-1. Connors said reaching the championship round would have been great, but for a first-timer, being a quarterfinalist is not too bad.
"I wanted to make it that far, but it's pretty amazing because it's my first college tournament," Connors said. "And I wasn't seeded and I beat some top seeds in the tournament, so that's pretty good, too."
SIUE Head Coach Kyler Updyke said the tournament was the first time the women participated in an ITA-based event since he took over as coach in 2006. The Cougars had not competed through ITA since the 2001-02 season.
"To be quite honest, it's probably (been) 15-20 years that anybody had done this well on the women's side," Updyke said of Connors's performance.
Not only did Connors advance in the singles circuit, but the doubles team of sophomore Kelsey Laird and freshman Laura Horning took to the second round before dropping their match, 8-1, to Northwood University's Ashley Neumann and Julia Goncalves.
The Cougars also pounded Lindenwood University 9-0 in regular season play during the weekend. Connors, Horning, Laird, sophomore Stephanie Clark and freshmen Ali Wulfers and Amanda Niebur, all cruised by their opponents in two sets.
SIUE's doubles teams also swept by LU in two sets.
"We came out really strong and finished strong," Horning said.
Updyke said Lindenwood hardly put up much of a fight as the matches came to a close.
"Overpowered is a good word," Updyke said in describing the opponent's situation.
The Cougars wrap up their fall portion of the season Friday and Saturday at the Western Illinois University Invitational in Macomb and will not compete again until March. Horning said with the program going Division I after this year, her teammates will get a decent look at who they might face down the road.
"It's good to see what kind of competition we're facing next year and what we're going to be put up against," Horning said.
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