Despite a historic run in the Atlantic 10 tournament, the Billikens storybook season slammed close on April 10 when they fell to perennial tennis power Richmond in the conference finals. The Saint Louis University women’s tennis team’s second place finish in the conference tournament was the highest in the program history. Up to this point, they had never even reached the semifinals.
“I’m so proud. We had the best finish at any team ever in school history. We know what we can do, and we’re not satisfied. We have to accept [second place],” head coach Jonathan Zych said.
Coming off of a stellar spring season in which the teams lost only four times total, the Billikens knew they had a chance to make some noise in the A-10 tournament. Their regular season performance earned them a No. 3 seed, the highest in program history. Battle-tested against the likes of Missouri, Tulsa and Memphis, the team was ready to go in conference.
The Billikens steamrolled through their first opponent La Salle by a score of 5-0, not dropping a match. Sisters Hailee and Mia Elmore, a senior and a sophomore respectively, both blanked their opponents in their respective singles matches by scores of 6-0 and 6-0. When all was said and done, the team had not surrendered a point in the entire match.
Next up was No. 6 seed Duquesne in the quarterfinals. Things came off to an auspicious start when doubles partners Stephanie Hollis and Mia Elmore were blanked 8-0 in the first match. Hollis, a freshman, led the team
wins this season and has been described by her coach as a player who can “be amazing.”
The Billikens recovered quickly when junior Jenny Nalepa and senior Kasia Tomalak teamed up to keep the team in contention for the doubles point. Their hopes were dashed when the Dukes claimed the final doubles match and jumped out to a 1-0 team lead.
Then the singles matches came around, and the momentum swung permanently. It was four up and four down for SLU, with Hollis, Nalepa, senior Casey Miller and Tomalak all winning in straight sets. The Billikens were in the semifinals of the A-10 tournament for the first time in program history.
The Billikens squared off against the No. 2 seed Temple Owls for the right to advance to the A-10 finals. The Owls came into the match red-hot, having won seven in a row and 12 of their last 13 matches. SLU again dropped the doubles point and the first singles match. They stormed back with three straight victories to take the lead, but a Mia Elmore loss at number six set up a dramatic showdown between Hailee Elmore and Temple’s number one player Theresa Stangl.
Hailee Elmore has been a cornerstone of the program and can be argued as one of the greatest women’s tennis player in the history of the school. She owns the school record in both doubles and singles wins and is currently the reigning A-10 conference Player of the Year. Last season, Elmore amassed an unheard of 55 collective victories last year en route to winning the award. She became the first SLU student-athlete to be named as Player of the Year in any conference.
“She leads by example, work ethic and results. She has a very, very strong willpower,” Zych said. “No tennis ball will ever get past her, and she knows that going into every match. You’d have to hit unbelievable winners to beat her. Her focus and energy are probably the best in SLU history.”
In all, Elmore has been named to the A-10 first team All-Conference squad twice, second team once and the A-10 All-Academic team twice. The conference awards have yet to be released for this season.
It was fitting that the most decorated player in the history of the program was given this opportunity.
Elmore fell behind to her opponent early, dropping the first set 6-3, but persisted in a hard-fought second set, pulling through with a 6-4 win. With the opportunity to play for an A-10 championship for the first time in SLU history hanging in the balance, Elmore did what she had been doing for the length of her career: Dominated. She blew away Stangl in the final set by a score of 6-1, propelling the Billikens to previously unreached heights.
After the dramatic semifinals, SLU met two-time defending A-10 champion Richmond with a chance to play in the NCAA tournament hanging in the balance. In a reversal of the pattern that had been unfolding in the previous matches of the tournament, the Billikens picked up a win in the first doubles match. Hollis and Mia Elmore picked up an 8-6 victory to get SLU off on the right foot. However, the Billikens surrender the doubles point when they dropped the next two matches, falling behind 1-0 heading into singles play.
Richmond came out strong in singles play, winning three out of four to ensure their third consecutive league championship. By a final score of 4-1, the Billikens were denied their first ever A-10 championship.
“We took second, but I feel like we had the best preparation, best schedule and hardest training—a lot of really good things going for us. There are no excuses. They won on this day,” Zych said.
Not only did the Billikens make history on the court, but they did it in the classroom as well. The women’s tennis team has had the highest team GPA at SLU for five years in a row, an accomplishment that their coach takes just as much pride in as their athletic achievements.
“What these girls have done, that is what college sports are all about,” Zych said. “Their unbelievable grade point averages, performances and what they have gone through…it has been a pure humbling honor to coach them.”
