Manon Kruse

Height:
5-10
Class:
Senior
Prev school:
Gymnasium-Hammonense
Hometown:
Hamm, Germany

Kruse's Game Can athletically take over any singles or doubles match ... Played No. 1 singles and doubles as a sophomore ... Strong baseliner who moves very well with lethal forehand ... Has all the shots ... Has the potential to be the best female tennis player ever at Middle Tennessee ... Leads by example.

2003-04 (Senior)
Fall: Was 6-3 in singles during the fall season, with two separate three-match win streaks ... Dropped the opening match of the Furman Invitational but bounced back to win twice in that event against opponents from Furman and South Carolina, both in straight sets ... Won over Illinois' No. 57 Tiffany Eklov in the Round of 64 at the All-Americans, 6-1, 6-4 ... Made it to the semifinals of the ITA Southeast Regional after winning three consecutive matches while only giving up four games in the streak ... Defeated opponents from North Carolina A&T, Campbell and Duke in the final win streak of the fall season ... Had a doubles mark of 7-3 overall ... Had Jennifer Klaschka and Carien Venter as her partners.
Spring: Opened the spring season with a season-best 11 consecutive wins and finished her final spring season with a record of 20-3 ... Won over No. 23 Aibika Kalsarieva from Kentucky, 6-1, 6-2 for her second triumph of the dual match season ... Took the victory at the No. 1 spot for the Blue Raiders against No. 75 Chloe Carlotti from Ole Miss, 6-2, 6-2 ... One of her three spring season losses came against No. 27 Audra Falk from Vanderbilt ... Enjoyed a win streak of nine matches to close out the regular season and begin her postseason ... Earned a victory over No. 47 Paty Aburto from TCU, 6-4, 7-5, followed by a win over No. 83 Svetlana Kouzmenko from SMU, 6-4, 6-0 ... Was undefeated in singles throughout the Sun Belt Tournament, only giving up five games in the last three matches ... Won in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, over No. 12 Daria Panova from Oregon in the NCAA Singles Championship Round of 64 ... Singles season came to an end after losing to No. 3 Jelena Pandzic from Fresno State ... Partnered with Carien Venter 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)
For the second straight year Kruse attended the NCAA Championships in Singles and Doubles ... Lost in the first round of singles to No 8 seeded and No. 10th ranked Jewel Peterson of Southern California 6-3, 7-5 ... Ended the season ranked No. 58 in singles ... Kruse and partner Stacy Varnell also fell in first round action in the NCAA with a 6-4, 6-1 loss to No. 3 seeded and No. 3 ranked Sarah Riske and Aleke Tsoubanos of Vanderbilt as the duo closed out their career together with a 16-11 record and ranked No. 26 ... Over the course of the spring season, Kruse put together a 13-match winning streak which included wins over five ranked opponents including a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 23 Juile Coin of Clemson on February 21 ... Named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on April 24 ... Named to Sun Belt All-Conference for the third straight year in singles and doubles ... Began the fall season with a preseason ranking of 10th with doubles partner Stacy by the ITA Omni Hotels Collegiate Rankings ... Seeded second in the qualifying doubles rounds at the All-America Championships held in Los Angeles, California where the duo went 2-1 ... Kruse and Varnell opened the All-America Tournament with a 8-4 win over Ole Miss' No. 44 ranked duo of Mira Radu and Virginia Thomatis, defeated Fresno State's No. 34th ranked Chloe Carlotti and Lucia Tallo 9-8 (5) and lost to Duke's No. 18th team of Julie DeRoo and Amanda Johnson 8-6 ... Preseason ranked No. 31 in singles ... Went 1-1 at the All-Amercia Championships in qualfying, defeating No. 56 Alexis Matire of Harvard 6-2, 6-3 and losing to Boise State's Renate Stoop 3-6, 1-6 ... An ankle injury sidelined her for the remainder of the fall season and she couldn't attend the ITA Regional tournament.

2001-02 (Sophomore)
Ended the season ranked No. 43 in singles and 19 in doubles in the ITA Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings, which is the highest end of season ranking for a Lady Raider in school history ... Named to the Sun Belt All-Conference Team, in singles and doubles, for the second year in a row ... Became the first Lady Raider in school history to make it to the NCAA Women's Singles Tournament as well as doubles ... Lost in the first round of the NCAA singles tournament to Fresno State's Chloe Carlotti, ranked No. 41, 6-7, 6-3, 2-6 ... Broke the school record for most doubles wins in a season with 30, breaking the previous record of 29 held by Clare Sevier (1997-98) ... Ended the season with a 24-6 record in singles and 30-8 in doubles, with a record of 15-3 in dual matches in the spring playing every match at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles ... Defeated five ranked opponents in the 2002 spring season in singles play ... Kruse recorded a 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 win over Vanderbilt's Sarah Riske, who ended the season ranked No. 14 ... Went on a 9-0 run from February 23 through April 21, including winning all of her matches at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament ... Had a record of 19-3 in outdoor matches and was 7-3 against ranked opponents ... Kruse and doubles partner Stacy Varnell won the opening round of the 32 double's team field at the NCAA Tournament with a 6-1, 2-1 win over No. 9th ranked and seventh seeded Debbie Larocque and Maja Mlaker of Fresno State ... Fell to Stanford's No. 14th ranked Lauren Barnikow and Jessica Lehnoff of 4-6, 7-5, 2-6 in the second round ... The duo opened the 2002 season with five consecutive wins over ranked opponents, including knocking off No. 20th ranked Agata Ciroch and Lori Gray of Georgia ... After a loss at South Carolina on February 2nd, Kruse and Varnell went on an 11 match, winning streak that spanned February 3rd through April 6th ... Ranked as high as 11th in doubles in the 2002 spring season.
Fall: Ended the fall season with an impressive 9-2 record ... Beat four straight ranked opponnets including No. 17 ranked Sarah Riske of Vanderbilt 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 ... As a coincidence Kruse's first loss of the fall was at the hands of Riske at the finals of the June Stewart Invitational at Vanderbilt University ... Won flight one singles tournaments at Doctor's Vison Center Invitational at UNC-Wilmington and Furman Fall Classic ... Seeded No. 14th at the ITA Southeast Regional but lost to Kentucky's Lauren Rookledge 2-6, 3-6 in the first round ... Kruse and doubles partner Stacy Varnell ended the fall with a 11-2 record ... Won flight one doubles at Doctor's Vision Center at UNC-Wilmington and Furman Fall Classic ... Went 1-1 against ranked opponents this fall with a 8-2 win over No. 8th ranked Kathy Boyanovich and Jennifer Radman of South Carolina and lost to No. 10 Carolina Mayorga and Sarah Witten of Kentucky ... Kruse and Varnell were seeded 7th at the ITA Southeast Regional ... Won two matches at regional tournament before falling to Julie Deroo and Kelly McCain of Duke.

2000-01 (Freshman)
Fall: Limited during the fall due to a ankle injury that required surgery in November...In six matches, she faced three ranked opponents including a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 29 Allison Ojeda of Tennessee...Advanced to the semifinals of the Indiana Fall Invitational...Recorded a 3-1 record in doubles with Stacy Varnell advancing to the finals of the Indiana Fall Invitational and 4-3 record overall.
Spring: Named to the All-Sun Belt Confernce team in doubles with partner Stacy Varnell ... The duo of Kruse and Varnell posted a 14-10 record that included wins over No. 46 ranked Vanderbilt and No. 29th ranked UAB ... Kruse proved why she was so highly sought as a junior in Germany posting a 12-9 record in singles at the No. 1 position (2-4 against ranked opponents) in her first season despite under going foot surgery at the end of the fall.

High School: Attended Gymnasium Hammonense...Played basketball and tennis...No. 2 in German masters doubles and third on two other occassions...Ranked in the top 10 in Germany in doubles and top 75 in singles...Captain of the state championship team.

Personal: Intends to major in business adminstration...Has an interest in sports management following college...Also enjoys soccer, computers, and movies...Born August 22, 1980...Parents are Hans-Joachim and Monika Kruse.