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16 October 2019
By Colin MacGillivray
Horsham tennis young gun Steffi McDonald is off to a great start in her second season at collegiate level in the United States.
McDonald played her first season of US college tennis with Kentucky’s Lindsey Wilson College, but transferred to Blue Mountain College in Mississippi for her second season.
She qualified for the round of 16 at Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s south region championships last month.
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It was the furthest any woman from the college’s tennis program had made it at the tournament.
The south region is considered the toughest region in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics – NAIA – women’s tennis, with the top three nationally ranked players all playing within the division.
The NAIA is an athletics association for smaller colleges that operate outside the larger National Collegiate Athletic Association in the US.
McDonald defeated Point University’s Maria Martinez, 6-1 6-0, in the round of 32 before falling to Tereza Koplova in the round of 16. McDonald said she followed former Lindsey Wilson College head tennis coach Randall Knox when he accepted a job at Blue Mountain College and was enjoying the switch.
“I’m loving it at the moment,” she said.
“All round it’s just a better place for me. It’s nothing against Lindsey Wilson, I’m just a lot happier here.”
Knox said McDonald’s victory marked the first time one of the college’s women had won a match at the ITA south region championships.
“I’m really pleased with Steffi’s performance in making the round of 16,” he said.
“She’s the first player to win a main draw for Blue Mountain College in its history, so there’s a lot that can be said about that.
“All in all, I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made and I’m excited about the foundation we’re building at BMC.”
McDonald competed over the weekend at the 2019 Grizzly Open at Georgia Gwinnett College.
McDonald won her opening round over NCAA DII West Georgia's Kennedy Lewis 6-2, 6-3.
McDonald moved on to the Round of 32 going down to Madalena Andrade of Alabama St. University 0-6, 1-6.
McDonald was ranked among the top 140 women in Australia before departing for the US last year.
She will play her next tournament with Blue Mountain College at the ITA Oracle Cup in Rome, Georgia, on Friday.
The entire October 16, 2019 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!
