Mustangs announce five tennis recruits
Morningside announced five tennis recruits who will join the Mustangs for the 2017-18 season.
Morningside College men’s and women’s tennis coach Larry Mason announced the names of four male recruits and one female recruit who will join the Mustangs for the upcoming 2017-18 season.
The recruits are:
Marilyn Cepeda of Shenandoah, Iowa. Cepeda is a 2017 graduate of Shenandoah High School, where she had an 11-4 record as the team’s No. 3 singles player this past season and helped lead the Fillies to a third place finish at Iowa’s Class 1A state tournament.
Cepeda had an 18-7 record in doubles and combined with Nicole Gilbert to win a district championship and finish fourth at this year’s Class 1A doubles state tournament. Cepeda and Gilbert advanced through the first two rounds of the state tournament before they dropped a 6-1, 6-1 verdict in the semifinals against the eventual state championship duo of Lauren McManus and Taylor Hogan of Waterloo Columbus Catholic. They lost 6-3, 6-2 against Brianne Eighme and Karlee Sinnott of Waterloo Columbus Catholic in the third place consolation match.
Cepeda had an 8-2 singles record and was a Class 1A state doubles qualifier as a junior.
Trey Hanson of Havre, Mont. Hanson is a 2017 graduate of Havre High School, where this past season he helped lead the Blue Ponies to their ninth consecutive Central A championship.
Hanson began playing tennis as a freshman in high school and moved up to Havre’s varsity as a sophomore. As a senior, he qualified for Montana’s Class A singles state tournament, where he suffered a 6-0, 6-2 opening round loss against eventual state champion Simon Marshall of Billings Central.
Jeff Miller of Havre, Mont. Miller will join the Mustangs with freshman eligibility as a transfer from Montana State University-Northern, where he was a member of the Lights’ golf team.
Miller is a 2016 graduate of Havre High School, where he was a four-time Central A #1 singles champion and a four-time place winner and three-time finalist in Montana’s Class A singles state tournament. Miller had a 13-5 record in state tournament competition during his prep career.
Miller placed sixth at the state tournament as a freshman before he won the Class A state championship as a sophomore. Miller routed his first two state tourney opponents with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Quaid Harlan of Polson and a 6-1, 6-1 triumph against Haydn Pettersen of Dawson County before he rebounded from a first set loss to defeat Polson’s Brady Hislop 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals. Miller won by default in the third set against D.J. Pekoc of Corvallis in the state championship match.
Miller was the Class A state runner-up as a junior after he lost 6-2, 6-3 against Pekoc in the final and again as a senior when he lost 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) against Harrison Fagg of Billings Central in the title match.
Jory Opp of Glendive, Mont. Opp is a 2017 graduate of Dawson County High School, where he compiled a 106-22 career record, was a four-time all-conference performer and a four-time place winner, twice in singles and twice in doubles, in Montana’s Class A state tournament.
Opp had a 35-6 record this past season to establish a career high in victories en route to a third place finish at the Class A singles state tournament. Opp opened the state tourney with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Danyon Rice of Fergus before a 6-2, 6-0 setback against Alex Raymond of Hamilton in the quarterfinals dropped him into the consolation bracket, where he won four consecutive matches, including a 6-3, 6-2 triumph against Bradley Rakich of Dillon in the third place match.
Opp combined with Josh Hoffer for a runner-up finish at the Class A doubles state tournament as a junior and paired with Dennis Berg for a third place finish as a sophomore. He broke into the Dawson County lineup as a freshman and posted a 31-6 record en route to a fifth place finish at the Class A singles state tournament, where he reached the semifinals before a 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 setback against Brady Hislop of Polson.
Garrett Seamans of Gillette, Wyo. Seamans is a 2017 graduate of Campbell County High School, where he helped lead the team to a state championship this past season. Campbell had a 15-1 singles record and was the runner-up in the No. 2 singles bracket of the Wyoming state tournament. Seamans defeated Ethan Kurtz of Sheridan by a 6-1, 6-2 verdict in the quarterfinals and won 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 against Brian Jolson of Central in the semifinals before he suffered a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 loss against Jessie Brown of Powell in the state championship match.
Seamans had a 21-2 record at No. 2 doubles as a junior and went undefeated with a 19-0 record at No. 3 doubles as a sophomore. As a sophomore, Seamans combined with Tim Hays to win the No. 3 doubles state championship with a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Kelly Kramer and Jameson Fjua of Rock Springs in the title match. Seamans was a state runner-up as a junior when he combined with Hays for a second place finish at No. 2 doubles, where they lost 6-4, 6-0 against Patrick Marchal and Gregory Marchal of Green River in the state final.
Morningside’s men’s and women’s tennis teams each established school records for victories during the 2016-17 campaign when the Mustang women posted a 15-4 record and the men finished 14-9. Both teams advanced to the championship matches of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Tournament, where they lost against regular season champion Hastings College.
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