Clemson Women’s Tennis Team To Open Fall Season At Furman Fall Classic

Sept. 24, 2003

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson women’s tennis team will begin its fall season at the Furman Fall Classic on Sept. 26-28 in Greenville, SC. The Tigers completed the 2003 season with a 19-6 overall record and a 7-1 record in the ACC. Clemson was ranked 19th in the final ITA poll, garnering the team’s first top-20 final national ranking since the 1996 season. The team returns six letterwinners, including four starters, from last year’s squad.

The Tigers competed at the Furman Fall Classic in 2002, with two players earning flight championship honors. Julie Coin was the flight one singles champion while Ashlea Bowen won the title at number six singles.

Three Clemson singles players and two Tiger doubles teams are ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s preseason singles and doubles rankings released on Sept. 3. Coin is ranked 13th in singles, after posting a 31-6 overall record last season and a 19-3 record in dual matches. The junior from Amiens, France was named the Southeast Region Player to Watch by the ITA in 2003 and was the ITA Southeast Region Indoor Champion in 2002.

Alix Lacelarie, a junior from Villeneuve-Les-Beziers, France, is ranked 33rd in the preseason singles poll. Lacelarie posted a 17-6 overall record and reached the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship in 2003. Sophomore Daniela Alvarez is ranked 88th in the ITA singles poll. The Santa Cruz, Bolivia native posted a 17-6 overall singles record in 2003.

The Tigers’ doubles duo of Alvarez and Lacelarie is ranked 12th in the ITA preseason poll. The pair finished the 2003 season with an 18-2 overall record and was the ACC flight champion at number two doubles. Coin and freshman Maria Brito are ranked 29th in the preseason doubles poll. Coin posted a 22-9 overall doubles record last season with teammate Laurence Jayet, while Brito, a native of Mexico City, Mexico, was an Orange Bowl doubles finalist (18’s) and was ranked 11th in doubles by the International Tennis Federation.