Saluki Women's Tennis Inks Top Kansas Recruit
04/30/2001 | 12:00:00 | Women's Tennis
April 12, 2001
Southern Illinois University Carbondale's women's tennis coach Judy Auld has added a strong singles and doubles player to her lineup next season with the signing of incoming freshman Kari Stark for the fall of 2001.
"I am really excited about Kari playing for us," Auld said. "She is going to provide a lot of depth on our team right away in the fall as a freshman. She is a good hard worker and has a very solid game already. But I believe her best tennis is still ahead of her. She comes in with a good ranking on her circuit and is a very solid student academically. She is just a good all round player."
Stark is the reigning Kansas State Class 6A doubles champion from Wichita Southeast High School and is currently ranked 25 in the Girl's 18 division of the USTA Missouri Valley junior tennis circuit. Besides being doubles champion her senior year, she has played No. 1 singles all four years earning team captain as a junior and a senior as well as placing in the Top Ten at the state championships her first three years and was named "Outstanding Fall Athlete" this past fall. In addition, she ran track and placed fourth in the regionals and 11th at the state championships in the 1,600-meters.
Stark is an excellent student graduating tops in her class of 347 with a 4.0 GPA and intends to major in communications and business at SIUC. She is a member of the National Honors Society and has been her Class President all four years in high school. She was honored by the Kansas Health Foundation as the only student asked to serve on an advisory council for the formation of new after school programs for at-risk children.
"I see her coming in and immediately playing in the middle or lower end of the singles lineup," Auld added. "She should be a solid No. 4 or 5 player and is the type of player who doesn't lose matches, the other player has to beat her. She is a tenacious player with a lot of heart and is very coachable. I think her game has a lot of room to mature here at SIU. She is predominately a baseline player who is comfortable coming to the net in doubles. I think she will fit in nicely on our team both on and off the court."