The University of Northern Colorado women's tennis team begins its second year of Division I play in 2004-05 and first year under new head coach Brenda Vlasak.

Vlasak had served as the Bears' assistant coach the previous two season. Long-time head coach Rosemary Fri has stepped aside from the coaching duties and will serve as the Director of Tennis.

The Northern Colorado women posted an 11-7 mark in the first-year of Division I tennis last season. This year's squad will look to keep the program on the same winning path as the Bears play a full Division I schedule. The biggest loss from last season's squad was four-year starter Jan Ikeda. Ikeda posted a career singles record of 67-41 and a career doubles record of 63-35.

The Bears return three letterwinners from last year. The returnees include senior Julia McPherson, sophomore Renee Nuccio and sophomore Meredith Krystofik.

Nuccio was a first-team All-Independent selection after tallying a singles mark of 15-7 at No. 3 singles. Nuccio also earned first-team All-Independent honors in doubles with Ikeda. The Nuccio-Ikeda combo notched a 12-8 doubles mark last season.

Krystofik was a second-team All-Independent pick at No. 2 singles after recording a mark of 10-11.

McPherson played a majority of her matches at the No. 5 singles position last season. McPherson posted a singles mark of 12-8. McPherson has an overall singles record of 26-18 in her three seasons at UNC.

Vlasak will mix in three new starters into the lineup this season. Newcomers Karen Groll, Carmen Vasos and Kellie Crail will fill out the other three spots in this year's starting singles lineup.

Groll is a freshman from Tucson, Ariz. Groll was a team captain for her Catalina Foothills prep team. Vasos is freshman from Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins. Vasos earned all-state honors all four years as a prep player. Crail is a sophomore transfer from Air Force. Crail was a 2003 graduate of Iolani High School in Waipahu, Hawaii.

The Bears will have a very young squad in 2005. Krystofik, Groll and Nuccio will all by vying for the No. 1 singles slot. Vasos, McPherson and Crail will all battle for the No. 4-6 singles' positions.

In doubles action, Vlasak will look to pair up Krystofik and Groll as well Vasos and Nuccio. Those two pairings will look to battle it out for the No. 1 doubles slot. McPherson and Crail will fill out the other doubles' pairing.

The women will play a full Division I schedule that will include Utah, Montana State, Montana, Air Force, Iowa State, Drake, Northern Iowa, Weber State, Northern Arizona, Denver, UTEP, Wyoming and Colorado State.

The Bears will also play host to the NCAA Division I Independent Championships on April 22-24. Northern Colorado will host Texas-Pan American, IPFW and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the tournament that will be held at Centennial Park in Greeley. The Bears played in the tournament last season in Corpus Christi and came home with a mark of 2-1.

The women's squad will also produce in the classroom as its 3.72 team grade point average from the fall can attest.