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The women's tennis program at Lake Forest College has a new approach and a new look, at least for the coaching staff, for the 1999 season. First-year Head Coach Chris Conger inherits the task of rejuvenating the Forester program. "I'm excited about the challenges ahead for our program," comments Conger. "All the resources are here for a bright future of women's tennis at Lake Forest." Conger has a track record of breathing new life into programs. He guided the Lake Forest men' basketball team to the school's first Midwest Conference Championship Tournament in 1998, and played on the 1994-95 University of Wisconsin basketball team that went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1947. Adding depth to the coaching staff will be Assistant Coach Chris Pier. "Coach Pier allows us to have two full-time coaches on the staff and will give us yet another resource for developing a quality program. Her three years of experience as a head women's tennis coach will be valuable to our program," Conger adds. Conger's first goal will be to increase the depth of the team. "We must first become competitive within our team before we can move up within the conference. We've got some solid players currently in the program, but have had to ask too much of them because of our lack of depth." Five of the six singles players on a team that took fifth place at the 1998 MWC Championship Meet after two consecutive ninth place finishes are back for the 1999 campaign. Conger will seek to sharpen their learning curve even further. "Our focus will be on improving the fundamentals of the game and becoming more intelligent in matches. But again, the primary focus will be to strengthen the depth of our team. We'll be much more competitive if we add some additional quality players to our current lineup. I'm excited to start the process of becoming one of the top women's tennis programs in the Midwest Conference." |