For head coach Roger Follmer, the weekend was a key opportunity to evaluate new talent and see who could replace, or at least compensate for, the loss of John Watts, the winningest player in the history of Wash. U. tennis. Watts graduated at the end of last year.

“It’s an exciting time to see who’s going to step up and show that they want to continue what John has done,” Follmer said. “They’ve got big shoes to fill, obviously, but I’m hoping that they compete with class and always look for a solution on the court.”

With the loss of Watts, a security blanket of consistency at No. 1 singles, some felt that the team must compensate in other areas, such as depth.

“There is some pressure for the team, but at the same time, we realize that life goes on,” senior Isaac Stein said. “Maybe it’s time for the team to take on a new identity, not having the best No. 1 player in the country. Maybe like having a rock-solid 4, 5, 6.”

For the most part, the Bears were, in fact, very deep over the weekend. In the A-singles bracket, Stein and sophomore Adam Putterman won their first matches, 6-1, 6-2 and 7-5, 7-5, respectively. In the next round, Stein lost a hard-fought 7-6 (4), 5-7, 10-6 match to Remy Caffardo of Graceland University, and Putterman dropped a 6-4, 6-2 effort to Barnabas Toth of McKendree University.

“We’ve been working on consistency and variety of your game in practice, and I thought I did that pretty well,” Stein said. “But the second match got close, and a few big points didn’t go my way, and I let it affect me a little more than it should have.”

In the B-singles division, sophomore Gary Parizher recorded two straight-set victories (6-2, 6-4 and 6-3, 6-4) to advance to the finals, which were not played due to the rain on Sunday.

If the match had been played, Parizher would have taken on sophomore teammate Bryan Haywood, who had just fought through a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 10-8 match to reach the finals.

On the other side of the B draw, sophomore Kareem Farah dropped his first match, a three-hour marathon, only to take the court thirty minutes later for his next match. Nevertheless, Farah had little trouble disposing of McKendree University’s Doug Mennerick, 6-2, 6-0.

“It was pretty frustrating losing the first one, but my main focus was just moving on, playing my next match, playing well,” Farah explained. “I just went out there and tried to play my game.”

In the A-doubles bracket, Stein and senior Max Woods, who are entering their fourth season as doubles partners, started off the season with 8-5 and 8-2 victories before being halted in the finals by the rain.

“We are both working pretty hard because we want to finish our careers at Wash. U. with a successful season, and our expectations are pretty high,” Stein said. “Obviously the most important thing is for Max and I to help the team, but we have some goals just for us as a doubles team as well.”

The Bears will face their first real test this weekend, Sept. 24-27, as they travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan for the Wilson/ITA Regional Championships.

McKendree University and Graceland University (both part of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) and Principia College failed to win a set against the Red and Green, going a combined 0-18 against the Bears.

“It was more working on techniques that we had during practice, making sure we were match tough,” head coach Kelly Stahlhuth said. “We got that out of it.”

Sophomore Kate Klein and junior Natalie Tingir dominated the A singles flight, dropping a combined three games in four sets to reach the final. In the closest match of the day, freshman Betsy Edershile defeated classmate and teammate Evelyn Qin in a super tiebreaker 4-6, 7-5, 10-7 to reach the B-singles final against senior Elise Sambol.

Senior Kalee Cassady and freshman Theresa Petraskova coasted to the C-singles final and sophomore Paige Madara and freshman Corinne Rauck reached the D-singles final without dropping a set.

In doubles, the pairing of Klein/Tingir and Qin/Edershile reached the A-flight final while Madara/Trimble and Sambol/Petraskova dominated the B flight to reach the final. In the only contested doubles match of the day for the Bears, Madara/Thimble battled past Cassady/Rauck 8-6 in the B-doubles semi-final.

The team plans to play all final-round matches by the end of next week since the intersquad matches provide some of the best practice for the Bears in the fall season.

“We push each other so well. We’re strong. We have a lot of depth, so I don’t want those matches to not happen,” Stahlhuth said.

The fall season is also helping the team bond and establish its identity. After relying on the same core of players for the past three seasons, the team has a new look due to players either graduating, leaving the team or spending the fall semester abroad. Featuring five returning players and six newcomers (one sophomore), the Bears will need to find the right lineup to reach the NCAA tournament for the third straight year.

“I think the new girls are very eager, they’re very hungry, they’re very team oriented…at the end of the [fall] season, they’re going to discuss what goals we’re going to have for next spring…I don’t think they’re going to be sitting around a lot,” Stahlhuth said.

The tournament also allowed the University community to honor the life of a mainstay in the athletic department.

Formerly named the Washington University Invitational, the tournament, which also featured three men’s singles flights and two doubles flights, was renamed to honor the life of Lynn Imergoot and her 37 years of service at the University. She passed away at the age of 60 on July 24, 2009, in a single car crash in New York.

Imergoot began working at Wash. U. in 1973 as the director of women’s and co-ed intramurals and also served as coordinator for women’s athletics (1977-84), assistant athletic director (1984-2005), coach of the women’s tennis team (1975-2005), and most recently, associate director of club and intramural sports.

“It was Roger’s [Follmer, the coach of the men’s team] idea,” Stahlhuth said. “It was a nice memorial that a year later we could still think about her. She’s on all of our minds…The coaches that have played in the tournament before, it touched them.”

The Bears return to action at the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Regional Championships on Oct. 1-4. Wash. U. will host the tournament at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park and at the Tao Tennis Center on campus.

“I’ll remember her as a wonderful teacher, coach, administrator, mother, friend and valued member of the Washington University community,” Athletic Director John Schael said.

Imergoot, most recently the associate director of club and intramural sports, started work at the University in 1973 as the director of women’s and co-ed intramurals, a post she held until 1979. She also served in the administration as coordinator for women’s athletics from 1977-84 and assistant athletic director from 1984-2005.

Aside from her work behind a desk, Imergoot will be most remembered as the first and longtime coach of the women’s tennis team, a post she held from 1975-2005. During her 30-year tenure as coach, the Bears compiled a record of 435-164 (.726) and made seven NCAA Tournament appearances. Six players also earned seven All-America distinctions during that time.

“Establishing and coaching the initial women’s tennis program was a great accomplishment for Lynn, as there were few opportunities for women’s participation in intercollegiate athletics,” Schael said. “She was, in a sense, a pioneer and indeed strong advocate for the advancement of women’s athletics on the Danforth Campus and was proud of Washington University’s commitment to enhanced opportunities for women in sport.”

“You have to have people who open doors, and I feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to work with someone that helped me develop as a coach and as a woman administrator. She gave guidance, and I always will appreciate that,” said Nancy Fahey, coach for the women’s basketball team since 1986 and the senior woman administrator.

In addition to starting the women’s tennis program, Imergoot helped Schael and the athletics department introduce cross country, indoor track, basketball, soccer, softball and golf as women’s varsity programs. The University now has one more women’s varsity program than men’s program with the 2008 addition of women’s golf.

“We grew up in a time when we went to college and you had to look around to find varsity athletics for women, because not all colleges had them. When they did, they were coached by grad students, not graduated professors. So the fact that she started the program here, she was a pioneer in women’s athletics,” said Martha Tillman, current director of the South 40 Fitness Center and former swim team coach from 1979-99.

While the winning seasons and NCAA Tournament berths show that Imergoot knew how to coach a team to victory, Tillman and Fahey emphasized that Imergoot applied her coaching far beyond pushing for a win.

“She looked at everything as a way to teach lifelong lessons—the way you look at things, the way you deal with things. I think she looked at every opportunity as an opportunity to teach,” Tillman said.

“Lynn wasn’t just one-dimensional. Whether it was interaction with her players as a coach, whether it was her association with the intramural department, she touched a lot of different lives here in a lot of different ways. I think that’s what makes someone special,” Fahey said.

The accident occurred while Imergoot was driving from a summer sports camp to a scheduled dentist appointment.

She is survived by her son Douglas, 31, daughter Jennifer, 28, granddaughter Tamia, 9, and sister Amy Kossak. Imergoot was laid to rest in Deans, N.J., on July 27. A memorial service is scheduled for Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. in Graham Chapel.

“I’ll remember her as a wonderful teacher, coach, administrator, mother, friend, and valued member of the Washington University community,” Athletic Director John Schael said.

Imergoot, most recently the associate director of club and intramural sports, started work at Wash. U. in 1973 as the director of women’s and co-ed intramurals, a post she held until 1979. She also served in the administration as coordinator for women’s athletics from 1977-84 and assistant athletic director from 1984-2005.

In addition to all of her work behind a desk, Imergoot will be most remembered as the first and longtime coach of the Wash. U. women’s tennis team, a post she held from 1975-2005. During her 30-year tenure as coach, the Bears compiled a record of 435-164 (.726) and made seven NCAA Tournament appearances. Six players also earned seven All-America distinctions during her tenure.

“Establishing and coaching the initial women’s tennis program was a great accomplishment for Lynn as there were few opportunities for women’s participation in intercollegiate athletics.  She was, in a sense, a pioneer and indeed strong advocate for the advancement of women’s athletics on the Danforth Campus and was proud of Washington University’s commitment to enhanced opportunities for women in sport,” Schael added.

In addition to starting the women’s tennis program, Imergoot also helped Schael and the rest of the athletic department introduce cross country, indoor track, basketball, soccer, softball and golf as women’s varsity programs. Wash. U. now has one more women’s varsity program than men’s program with the addition of women’s golf in 2008.

The accident occurred while Imergoot was driving from a summer sports camp to a scheduled dentist appointment.

She is survived by her son Douglas, 31, daughter Jennifer, 28, and sister Amy Kossak. The funeral was Monday in Livingston, N.J., and she was buried in nearby Deans, N.J.

A memorial service will occur on campus next month.