May 7, 2003

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - University of Memphis women's tennis coach Charlotte Peterson announced the signing of two players for the 2003-2004 season, Wednesday. The Lady Tigers will be joined by Christina Wieser from Kilb, Austria, and Alexandra Tjioe from Victoria, Australia beginning in the fall.

"Both of these student-athletes will step in and play for us right away," Peterson said. "I'm not sure where in the line-up, but we'll need them to play right away in the fall."

Wieser joins the Lady Tigers from Kilb, Austria, following the likes of current senior Sabrina Lindemann, junior Marlene Dirnstorfer, sophomore Viktoria Gruber and freshman Andrea Feichtinger in Austrian-born Lady Tigers.

"I liked what I saw on Christina's tape," Peterson said. "She was very consistent and possesses a mental toughness that will be helpful for next year."

In addition to tennis, Wieser is an avid snowboarder, competing with the NOe Ski Team in 2003 on the National Cadre B-Ladies division. Wieser played tennis with UTC-Kilb, a team that recently qualified to move up to the National B Division with a win at the C Division tournament.

Wieser will be joined by the Lady Tigers' first Australian player since the graduation of Christina Ladyman in 2002 when Tjioe joins Memphis in the fall.

"Alexandra was referred to me by some of my contacts in Australia whose judgment I trust," Peterson said. "She has a lot of athletic skills and ability and is the type of players who will continue to develop her game by coming to Memphis. She already has a great regimen of workouts, competing and academics."

Tjioe, who has competed in the last two Victoria Juniors Championship Qualifying tournaments, was the No. 1 singles player at Sacre Coeur Catholic Independent School for Girls. There, she received the school colors for study excellence as well as for tennis from 1997-2000. A member of the Sacre Coeur Interstate Tennis Team in 1998, 1999 and 2001, Tjioe was also a member of the cross country and track teams from her 7th grade through junior years in high school. She cut back on athletics during her final prep year to focus on grades and getting into an American college.

The Sacre Coeur School Prefect and House Captain in 2002, Tjoie played tennis in the Nottinghill/Pinewood A Grade Junior level from 1997-2000 and was a President's Cup player in 2000-2001. In April of 2002, she won the 18U title at the Dingley Kingston Classic.

The duo will probably be the only signees joining the Lady Tigers in the fall of 2003.

"I do have two more scholarships, but I'm not sure I want another class with four newcomers (like Memphis had in 2002)," Peterson said. "I would like get back to the two-two-two cycle we had prior to this year, but I am looking to maybe add one more player for the spring season in January."

The Lady Tigers recently capped the eighth-most successful season in school history with a 17-7 mark. The 17 wins is the eighth-best single season win total in the program's history. Memphis also wrote some program history by earning its first-ever team national ranking and having its first-ever nationally-ranked doubles team.

The Lady Tigers lose three key seniors following the 2002-03 season. Sabrina Lindemann and Monica Gonzalez-Gordo were each second-team all-conference honorees after becoming the first-ever nationally-ranked doubles team in the program's history, while senior Sumitra Rao led Memphis with a 12-1 singles mark in the fall before a wrist injury and a rolled ankle affected her spring singles record. Rao did recover to go 3-0 at the Conference USA tournament, where Memphis finished tied for 5th, its highest team finish since 1994-95.