Gustavus women’s tennis player Samantha Frank wrapped up an outstanding fall season with a strong performance at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Small College Championships, which were held in Mobile, Alabama on Oct. 14-17. Frank, who was unseeded in the eight-player singles draw, advanced to the championship match before falling to Kristin Lim of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges 0-6, 3-6.
Frank won the ITA Midwest Regional at Gustavus to qualify for the Small College Championships at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama. The Small College Championships bring the eight regional winners from the throughout the United States together to play for the Division III Singles Championship in the fall season.
Frank opened the national tournament by defeating #2 seed Zahra Dawson of Emory University 6-3, 6-3 and then advanced to the championship match by knocking off Karisse Bendijo of The College of New Jersey 7-5, 7-5.
In the championship match, Frank lost to upstart freshman Kristin Lim of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Lim, who was also unseeded in the tournament, defeated Kendra Higgins of the University of Chicago 6-0, 6-0 in the first round and then dismissed #1 seed Laura Chen of Carnegie Mellon 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals. Frank was the only player in the tournament to win three games from Lim, when Frank dropped the second set 3-6.
As a result of advancing to the ITA Small College Championships, Frank receives ITA All-America honors for the 2010-11 season. She is the first Gustavus women’s tennis player to advance to the championship match in the singles draw at the ITA Small College Championships.
