The ISU women’s tennis team opened the 2000 fall season with a solid performance at the Billiken Fall Women’s Tennis Classic at St. Louis University last weekend. The Cyclone were led to a semifinal appearance by junior Sharla Whitaker in the B singles bracket. The doubles team of sophomore Courtney Leese and junior Edna Vazquez bounced from a first-round loss to win the consolation title. “I thought we had some good things come out of the tournament,” said Cyclone Coach Michele Conlon. “One of our objectives for this tournament was to just get our feet wet again with match play and evaluate our game to see what we need to work on. From that standpoint it was a good experience for us.” Whitaker moved into the semi-finals with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Memphis University’s Annike Westberg. In the semis, Whitaker was beaten in straight sets by Tara Trapani of Southern Illinois, and no third-place match was played. “I’m really pleased because I really worked hard this summer,” Whitaker said. “I played a lot of ITA tournaments this summer, and I think it helped prepare me for this tournament. I feel I did really well for the first time out, and I’m expecting better results as the season goes on.” In her semifinal loss, Whitaker felt that she just ran into a hot player who was on top of her game. “She [Trapani] was a great player,” Whitaker said. “She was very competitive and had a good all-around game. I think that it was just her day, every stroke was just perfect for her.” Another Cyclone who had success in singles play was sophomore Kristin Gyaki, who reached the quarterfinals in the top singles bracket. “Sharla played well today. The others are right there on the verge of playing the way they want to play, but are not quite there yet,” Whitaker said. Vazquez and Leese teamed up to win four matches after losing in the first round to a team from Memphis that ended up placing second. Last season the duo combined to set a school record for doubles victories, and Leese feels the tandem are playing well again. “In our first match we played a pretty tough team,” Leese said. “We started slow in our first consolation match but started playing our game, and by the end we were pretty much on fire. We started playing aggressive and got to the net first and overpowered our opponents.” Gyaki and Noortje Cornelissen advanced to the semi-finals in the A doubles division before losing an 8-4 match. Whitaker was scheduled to pair up with Karin Westberg to play doubles, but the pair had to default due to Westberg’s injury. Westberg still played singles and Conlon praised her effort. “Karin played real well despite the fact that she couldn’t use her left hand,” Conlon said. “She had to hit a one-handed backhand and usually she hits it with two hands. She made it to the consolation finals in her bracket.” The Cyclone don’t play again until the Drake Tournament on Oct. 27-29. Conlon feels her team will use that month off to further along the improvement process. “I think that having played matches in a tournament setting brings out the things that each person needs to work on,” Conlon said. “Each person will now have their own tennis agenda and things they need to work on before the Drake Tournament.”