Carien Venter

Height:
5-10
Class:
Senior
Prev school:
Waterkloff
Hometown:
Pretoria, South Africa

Venter's Game
Best hands and volleys on the team ... Very good doubles player ... Wonderful backhand complimented by a big forehand ... Good serve ... Should develop into a good player ... Had a very good freshman season ... Really stepped up big during 2002 fall campaign ... Looking at great things from Carien this season.

2003-04 (Senior)
Fall: Had a record of 1-3 in singles in the fall season, competing three times at the Furman Invitational and once at the ITA Southeast Regional ... Only win came against Furman's Shannon Moore at the Furman Invitational by a score of 6-4, 6-1 ... Lost in the Round of 32 at the ITA Southeast Regional against North Carolina A&T's Kristin Lam ... Had a doubles record of 5-2 with partner Manon Kruse ... Won twice at the All-Americans (Qualifying) and made it to the semifinals of the ITA Southeast Regional by winning three straight matches ... Was 2-1 in doubles with partner Laura McNamara, with both victories coming at the Furman Invitational.
Spring: Was 12-8 in her final dual match season in singles ... Won over APSU to open the season, 6-0, 6-1 ... Bounced back from two straight losses with a victory on the road at Mississippi State's Magdi Rekasi ... Season-best four match win streak over opponents from SLU, UALR, Memphis and Murray State was from Feb. 15 to March 5 ... Won over Louisville, UNLV and SMU in the middle part of the season ... Earned three straight victories to close out the season, including a three set victory against UALR to begin the Sun Belt Championship at Mobile, Ala. ... Partnered with Manon Kruse to go 21-2 in doubles play in the dual match season, all at the No. 1 spot ... Opened the season with a win over APSU before being knocked off by Kentucky's top duo ... Went on to win the next 20 matches, including wins over all three ranked doubles combos they faced ... Took down No. 3 Vanderbilt's pair of Schmandt and Tsoubanos by a score of 8-4 ... Won over No. 24 Pierce and Cetnik from TCU, 8-3 ... Also earned a victory over Marshall's Johnson and Kroh, ranked No. 16 in the country at the time, by a score of 8-3 ... Won in the first round of the NCAA Doubles Championship before losing to Schmandt and Tsoubanos from Vanderbilt in three sets to end the season.

2002-03 (Junior)
Had a strong spring posting a 14-7 record in dual matches playing exclusively at the No. 3 position ... Had an overall record of 24-13 in doubles with a .888 percentage ... Posted two wins in the Sun Belt Tournament with a 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 win over New Mexico State's Lejila Probic and a 6-2, 6-4 win against Laetitina Zembski of New Orleans ... Recorded an overall record of 12-22 in doubles playing at the No. 2 position ... Had a 11-2 record when playing three set matches.Proved to be quite profecient in three set matches as she won all five this fall ... Including a three set match with No. 14th seeded Medina Bajrambasic of Coastal Carolina at the Southeast Regional in which she won 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 ... Lost in the next round to Duke's Susie Abromeit 6-7(5), 4-6 .. Picked up a huge ranked win against No. 55th ranked Kelly Schmandt of Vanderbilt 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) at the June Stewart Invitational ... Enjoyed Middle Tennessee's home tournament as she went undefeated and won the Flight A singes by beating Ole Miss' Sabrina Peppl 6-1, 0-6(10-5) ... Had three different partners in doubles going 4-2 with Stacy Varnell and placing second at the Doctor's Vision Center Flight A ... Competed at the ITA Omni Hotels Regional Indoor Championships with doubles partner Laura McNamar and went 1-1.

2001-02 (Sophomore)
In the final two months of the season, Venter posted a record of 10-1 in singles ... Played most of the spring season at No. 4 and No. 5 singles ... Record of 5-6 at No. 4 singles and 6-3 at No. 5 ... Dual match record of 12-9 and overall record of 17-15 which was a tie for third best record on the team ... A season highlight for Venter was the tiebreaker victory (7-5, 7-6(4)) over North Texas' Benita Bittner which helped the Lady Raiders defeat NT 4-1 ... She proved tough in tie-breaker points with a 4-0 mark ... Teamed with Michaela Gridling in No. 3 doubles for most of the spring season, and ended the year with a 7-8 record ... Duo was 2-0 at No. 2 doubles ... Third best doubles record on the team with an overall mark of 18-15 ... Finished the fall season with a win at the June Stewart Invitational and took fifth place by beating Ana Stiglic of Clemson ... Played one ranked opponent in singles at the June Stewart Invitational and lost to No. 59 Sarah Witten from Kentucky 4-6, 0-6 ... Was 1-0 in three set matches ... 2-0 in tiebreakers ... Struggled in doubles with doubles partner Tanja Buchheim with a record of 2-4 ... At the June Stewart Invitational teamed with freshman Verena Preiss and went 1-2.

2000-01 (Freshman)
Had an overall record of 17-13 in singles play, which was the top singles record on the team ... Went on a nine-match winning streak mid-way through the year after a 1-6 record to start the spring ... Played in the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 andNo. 5 position ... Most success was in the outdoor season where she went 16-7 ... Tied for second with Manon Kruse for most individual double wins with 15 ... Had the best fall season in singles with an 8-5 record...Playing with Tanja Buchheim advanced to the finals of the doubles draw at the Middle Tennessee Fall Inv.

High School: Attended Waterkloof High School in Pretoria, South Africa...Played for Province for four years and was team captain in 1998 and 1999.

Personal: Currently undecided on a major...Hopes to play professionally following college or begin her career of choice...Enjoys movies, music, and hanging out with friends...Born on April 22, 1981.