Coe College Sports Releases
Contact: Ryan Workman, Sports Information Director
E-mail: sid@coe.edu

Release courtesy of Iowa Conference Office

Fiala named IIAC MVP, Rodgers named Coach of the Year

The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Coe College sophomore Molly Fiala (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) has been selected IIAC women’s tennis Most Valuable Player and Coe head coach Eric Rodgers has been selected IIAC women’s tennis Coach of the Year. Both awards were voted by the Conference coaches following the Conference

Championship.

Fiala

Rodgers

Fiala, who was also named Conference MVP in 2005, led the Kohawks to their first-ever IIAC women’s tennis Championship. She won the ITA Midwest Regional and qualified for the ITA Small College National Championships, where she finished seventh. She posted a 16-2 overall singles record with both losses coming at the ITA Nationals. Fiala lead the Conference with an .889 winning percentage (among those with at least six decisions) and her 10-0 record at #1 singles was also tops in the Conference while her 5-0 record in Conference-play was second overall, first among those at the #1 position. Fiala also posted a 7-4 doubles record.

Rodgers guided Coe to a 10-1 record including a 6-0 mark against Conference opponents and the school’s first women’s tennis Championship since joining the IIAC in 1997. After finishing fourth in the Conference Individual Tournament without its #1 player (Fiala who was at the ITA Nationals), he led Coe to a victory over Luther, the top-seed and winners of 23 of 24 Conference Championships, in the Team Tournament semifinals and over #3-seed Cornell in the Championship match. This marks the first time Rodgers has been selected IIAC women’s tennis Coach of the Year but he has previously been named IIAC men’s tennis Coach of the Year three times (2003-05).

The Conference previously announced the women’s tennis All-Conference Team in conjunction with the Individual Tournament. The semifinalists at #1, #2 and #3 singles, the finalists in #3, #4, #4 singles and #1 doubles, and the Champions at #2 and #3 doubles are recognized as All-Conference. The complete 2006 IIAC women’s tennis All-Conference Team is here.