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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Farmer Leads Tennis Team, Scotties Prepare for LIS Tourney
Undefeated for St. Margaret's in singles and doubles last week, senior Katie Farmer is peaking at just the right time for the League of Independent Schools (LIS) post-season tournament.
ST. MARGARET'S 2000 VARSITY TENNIS TEAM - (l. to r.) Katie Farmer, Heeran Kim, Britt Erwin, Danielle Magid, Katie Spiegler (head coach), Kristina Bethea, Cathy Ryan, Jeong Min Kim, and Ann Melchionna.
Farmer, a three-sport athlete, enjoyed two successful athletic seasons earlier this school year in field hockey (fall) and basketball (winter), respectively. Now Farmer is hitting her stride in tennis, hoping to bring a thin Scotties team into contention for the 2000 LIS conference tournament which St. Margaret's will host this Friday and Saturday, May 12-13, in Tappahannock.
Winning the tournament title, however, won't be easy for the Scotties due to the loss of two key players, Jeong Min Kim and Australian exchange student Britt Erwin. Britt, who only played with the team two weeks, returned home for her third trimester at St. Margaret's School-Berwick, in Melbourne, Australia. Jeong Min, a senior, sprained her ankle earlier this year practicing with two teammates on a Saturday. "Losing Jeong Min and Britt has rendered our team a little thin and there are many strong teams this year…but anything can happen in the tournament," comments fifth-year head coach Katie Spiegler of Tappahannock. "If we continue to peak and believe in ourselves, I think we will surprise a lot of teams."
To recap the Scotties matches last week, on May 2, St. Margaret's edged The Covenant School 5 - 4. St. Margaret's claimed the top three singles matches, as junior Cathy Ryan (8-1), Ann Melchionna (8-6), and Katie Farmer (8-4) won in No. 1, 2, and 3 singles, respectively. The Scotties No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams of Ryan/Melchionna (8-3) and Farmer/Danielle Magid (8-4) sealed the victory for SMS with impressive wins.
On Thursday, May 4, SMS traveled to Petersburg to face St. Vincent's De Paul, a team the Scotties defeated twice in 1999. St. Margaret's took four out of six singles matches; winners were: Melchionna (8-3), Farmer (8-0), Magid (8-1), and junior Heeran Kim (8-2) of Seoul, Korea. Katie Farmer and Danielle Magid paired together to defeat St. Vincent's Vanlandingham/Williams 8-2 at the No. 2 doubles postion. The match for Farmer was her fourth win in two days including Tuesday's home match versus Covenant.
Led by senior Katie Farmer, the Scotties stand poised to make a run for the 2000 LIS tournament title this weekend, May 12-13, in Tappahannock.
