RICHARDSON, Texas – The Concordia Texas women's tennis team, coming off two straight conference tournament appearances, was picked to finish third in the American Southwest Conference West Division as the league released its preseason poll and players to watch list on Monday.
 
The Tornados finished 4-3 in a 2019-2020 season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
In the league's preseason poll, which is voted on by the conference's head coaches and sports information directors, CTX received 52 points along with one first-place vote and were selected to finish third in the west division.
 
Hardin-Simmons is the favorite to win the ASC West, earning 67 points and 10 first-place votes, followed by McMurry with 56 points and one first-place vote. Meanwhile, UT Dallas was picked to win the ASC East with East Texas Baptist and LeTourneau rounding out the top three, respectively.
 
A duo of sophomores, Rachel Sweitzer and Isabella Wiik, represented CTX on the ASC Players to Watch list.
 
Sweitzer had an impressive freshman campaign, starting with a third place finish in flight D singles at the ASC Fall Tournament. The Rowlett, Texas native finished 3-4 at line six singles and 3-3 at line three doubles. 
 
Wiik, out of Katy, Texas, showed a lot of promise as a freshman, winning the flight A doubles title alongside Cassandra Landeros-Cabrera at the ASC Fall Tournament and boasting a 4-3 singles record at line two. She had won three straight singles matches, all in straight sets, when the season ended early.
 
Concordia Texas will look to secure their third straight conference tournament appearance when they open the season on Feb. 6 in a matchup with Texas Wesleyan at 2 p.m. in Austin, Texas.
 
2021 ASC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
East Division

Rank	Team (1st place votes)	Pts.	2020 Record (ASC)
1.	UT Dallas (9)	68	2-1 (0-0)
2.	East Texas Baptist (3)	59	5-3 (0-0)
3.	LeTourneau	45	1-10 (0-0)
4.	Ozarks	39	3-4 (0-0)
5.	Belhaven	29	2-4 (1-0)
6.	Louisiana College	15	0-7 (0-1)

West Division

Rank	Team (1st place votes)	Pts.	2020 Record (ASC)
1.	Hardin-Simmons (10)	67	5-4 (1-0)
2.	McMurry (1)	56	8-4 (0-0)
3.	Concordia Texas (1)	52	4-3 (0-0)
4.	Mary Hardin-Baylor	36	1-5 (0-0)
5	Howard Payne	26	0-7 (0-0)
6.	Sul Ross State	15	0-1 (0-0)

 
2021 ASC Women's Tennis Preseason Players to Watch
Players selected by their respective head coach
 

Name	Cl.	School	Hometown
Julia Keffer	Jr.	Belhaven	Birmingham, Ala.
Khin Lwin	Jr.	Belhaven	Amarillo, Texas
Rachel Sweitzer	So.	Concordia Texas	Rowlett, Texas
Isabella Wiik	So.	Concordia Texas	Katy, Texas
Kelsey Roberts	So.	East Texas Baptist	Mansfield, Texas
Maddi Davis	So.	East Texas Baptist	McKinney, Texas
Kaitlyn Hathorn	Jr.	Hardin-Simmons	Abilene, Texas
Landry Laywell	So.	Hardin-Simmons	Thorndale, Texas
Lexie Nave	Fr.	Howard Payne	Brownfield, Texas
Zoe Sprayberry	Fr.	Howard Payne	Bells, Texas
Bailey Deatherage	So.	LeTourneau	Alvarado, Texas
Mimi Samdi	Sr.	LeTourneau	Jos, Nigeria
Chloe Norris	Fr.	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Kansas City, Mo.
Katy Beach	Fr.	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Lubbock, Texas
Caryn Lawrence	Fr.	McMurry	Rising Star, Texas
Jasmin Klassen	Fr.	McMurry	Seminole, Texas
Alexis Rogers	Sr.	Ozarks	Conway, Ark.
Angelica Garcia	Sr.	Ozarks	Amarillo, Texas
Kaitlyn Cope	Fr.	Sul Ross State	Fort Stockton, Texas
Shanyce Ramos	Jr.	Sul Ross State	Corpus Christi, Texas
Kathy Joseph * W V	Sr.	UT Dallas	Williston, Vt.
Samantha Wong	Jr.	UT Dallas	Grapevine, Texas

 
2019 All-Conference*
2019 All-West Division ^W
2019 West Division Most Valuable Player ^V