April 26-27, 2008
Lamoni, IA-The Jacket tennis teams have had an incredible 2008 season winning both the regular season conference championships, and the HAAC Tournament. Both the men and the women were looking to complete their runs to the National Tournament in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday as they competed in the Region V Championship in St. Louis, MO.
The women's team has been playing without their number two player Jessica Labarte (Barcelona, Venezuela) and unfortunately it caught up with the ladies on Saturday. Facing Benedictine a team Graceland had beaten as recent as April 9th, the Jackets fell 5-3 probably missing the opportunity to qualify as a team to the National Tournament. "I'm really proud of our ladies team this year; they had a great season," said Coach Hampton from St. Louis. "It was very disappointing to have to go to into the post season without a full team. Still, the ladies put their best foot forward it just didn't work out," finished Hampton.
The men's team was back in action Sunday morning after their 5-1 victory over Benedictine in the semi's Saturday night. Today they faced a conference opponent in Lindenwood Univeristy they had defeated twice already this season. Make it three. Graceland came out on top again qualifying for the NAIA National Tennis Tournament next month. The Jackets finished off the weekend with a 5-0 victory winning all three of their doubles matches and getting wins from Remy Caffardo (Romans, France) and Brett Waite (St. Louis, MO) in singles completing the win.
The Jackets #1 player freshman Remy Caffardo was named most outstanding player at the tournament and Head Coach Jerry Hampton was named Region V Coach of the Year for the sixth time in seven years. "We have excellent leadership on this team and they've really worked hard all year to earn this," Coach Hampton said Sunday after the victory. "It wasn't something they took for granite. They knew the work and condition they would have to be in to get this done. I've never had a team work this hard and we are still very young," Hampton stated.
The NAIA National Tournament is slated to begin in Mobile, Alabama on May 12th. Stay in tuned to the Jacket Athletics Website for more info as the tennis teams heads to the tournament, and all of Graceland Athletics.
For More Information on Graceland University Athletics Contact: Matt Shelton, Sports Information Director (641) 784-5318 mshelton@graceland.edu
