Seventh-year head coach Ralph Kwilosz likes what he sees from his 2009-10 USF women's tennis team.

First of all, he is pleased to see that only one key player - four-year starter Beth Frey -- is gone from last year's club and the familiar faces that have returned have all shown improvement since last spring.

And, most importantly, he is very excited to see the competition within his team for the singles spots.

"The ladies have all worked hard this fall and our challenge matches have been very competitive," said Kwilosz.

Newcomer Katie Kipping has been the big winner in preseason camp, as she has already moved into the team's No. 1 singles slot.

"Katie has beaten everyone she has played in a challenge match and has done so decisively," said Kwilosz. "Right now, she is our No. 1 player and deserves to be there."

Kipping, a freshman, was an all-state tennis player at Newman Central Catholic High School in Sterling and a four-year qualifier to the Illinois state tournament.

The battles for the No. 2-through-No. 6 slots have been good ones this fall and those spots may change numerous times during the season.

Entering the first weekend of play, sophomore Danielle Emola held the No. 2 position after beating junior Corinne Lutz, last year's No. 1 player, by an 8-3 score in a preseason challenge match. Lutz stood third at that point with sophomore Agnes Belza right behind in the four hole. Carla Braun, one of just two seniors on the team, has moved up from her No. 6 slot of last spring to the No. 5 position. Junior Barb Koziol is at No. 6 after a strong preseason camp where she started down at No. 9. Right behind Koziol and contending for a singles slot is junior Emily Zajda.

Senior Kelly Pruett and sophomore transfer Mary Betzwiser round out the squad and each of them are vying for court time in both singles and doubles.

On the doubles front, Kwilosz has penciled in Kipping and Emola in the No. 1 pairing. The USF coach plans to rotate the others in the No. 2 position in the early matches and find out which players work best with one another in match competition. Braun, Lutz and Koziol are the most experienced doubles players in the group but Zajda and Belza will also get the opportunity to win one of the spots as well.

"Overall, I know we will be an improved team and I am excited to see just how much better we can be," said Kwilosz. "Kipping is a very good addition to the team and I think that her strong play has driven the others to work even harder to improve their games. I really like the competition we had in practice during our preseason and hope that continues to show in our match play this fall."