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Clark and Winkel to Represent ULM at All-American Tennis Championships

Clark and Winkel to Represent ULM at All-American Tennis Championships

Tennis Sep 29
MONROE, La. – Claire Clark and Monica Winkel of the ULM women's tennis team have been selected to compete in the ITA/Riviera Women's All-American Championships. The invitation-only event, open to the top college players in the nation, begins on Saturday, Oct. 2 and will conclude on Sunday, Oct. 10.

The first two days of the tournament will be played at UCLA before the tournament concludes at Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Clark has been selected among the 144 student-athletes to compete in the singles tournament and will pair with Winkel as one of the 80 duos in the doubles competition.

“This is a great opportunity to Claire and Monica, for our tennis program and for our entire university,” said head coach Terrence De Jongh. “Claire and Monica will be representing ULM at a major, national event with the top Division I players from all over the country.”

Clark, who is ranked 101st in the ITA's preseason top-125, is coming off a junior season in which she went 22-1 in singles play during the spring, including a mark of 17-1 playing at first singles. She won her final 18 matches of the season, including a straight-sets win over nationally-ranked Liset Brito of FIU in the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals. Clark earned All-Sun Belt and All-Louisiana First Team honors last season and also earned Academic All-America honors for the second consecutive season.

In addition to her Academic All-America honors, Clark was the Southern Region recipient of the ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship and received Sun Belt Commissioner's List honors, a recognition for conference student-athletes that achieve a 3.5 GPA or better.

“Claire has worked extremely hard every year since joining our program,” said De Jongh. “She has earned this honor and is extremely deserving of it. Claire is a fantastic representative of not only our tennis team but our entire university; she is a model student-athlete.”

In doubles play, Winkel and Clark teamed up for a 15-6 overall record, playing 15 of those matches at number one doubles. Winkel also had an excellent singles season, going 20-3 in the spring. Winkel was 4-1 playing at number two, 10-1 at number three and 6-1 at number four on the season. She ended the season on a four-match winning streak, including three victories in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

“Last season was a turning point for Monica,” said De Jongh. “She had a good freshman year but she continued to work hard and had a great sophomore year and this is the pay off for her hard work, particularly in doubles.”

The remainder of the Warhawks will also begin the fall season this weekend as they travel to Jonesboro, Ark., for the Arkansas State Fall Tournament beginning on Friday, Oct. 1 and continuing through Sunday, Oct. 3.
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