CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa --- The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Coe College junior Tai Lucero (Odessa, Texas/Permian) has been selected Iowa Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year for the 2012 season, while Coe head coach Eric Rodgers has been selected as the 2012 Iowa Conference Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year. Both awards were voted by the Conference coaches following the Conference Championship.

Lucero captured the Flight A singles title and teamed with 2011 IIAC Women’s Tennis MVP Michelle Schupbach for the Flight A doubles title at the recent Iowa Conference Individual Championships. Entering the singles tournament as the top No. 2 seed, she dropped only one game heading into the championship match, a 6-1, 6-2 win over defending champion Schupbach. Lucero, who also won the title and was named MVP in 2010, is one of four Coe players to capture the league’s top singles title (Molly Fiala, 2005 & 2007; Hannah Jensen, 2008; Schupbach, 2011).

Lucero and Schupbach entered as the top-seeded tandem in a Flight A doubles competition that saw three Coe doubles tandems reach the semifinals. The two-time defending champion tandem defeated Luther's Elise Allen and Maggie Helms, 8-4, in the semifinals before topping teammates Jordan Ferree and Laura Birky, 8-6, in the championship match. In all, Lucero has advanced to five Flight A finals in six opportunities, winning two singles crowns (2010, 2012) and three doubles crowns (2010-11-12).

Lucero is one of three Coe student-athlete to be named Iowa Conference Player of the Year in women’s tennis, joining four-time winner Molly Fiala (2005-06-07-08) and Schupbach (2011).

She posted a 16-1 singles record overall during the fall season with the only blemish coming to eventual champion Laura Krull of Grinnell in the semifinal round at the USTA/ITA Midwest Region Championship. Lucero also posted a 16-1 mark in doubles (14-1 with Schupbach, 2-0 with Sara Ohlman), competing at the No. 1 position. The only defeat came at the hands of eventual champions Bridget Doyle and Mikayla Becich of Carleton in the Midwest Regional championship.

Rodgers guided Coe to an 8-1 mark during the fall season, including a perfect 7-0 mark in IIAC play to secure the school's fifth Iowa Conference title in women's tennis. The Kohawks will host the Iowa Conference NCAA AQ Tournament next April. This marks the fifth time Rodgers had been named IIAC Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year (2006-2008, 2011). He is also a three-time IIAC Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year (2003-2005).

The Iowa Conference also announced its 2012 All-Conference Women's Tennis Team. Six Coe players were named overall with Lucero, Schupbach and Ferree being named in both singles and doubles, Ohlman and Amy Sebastian being named in singles and Birky receiving honors in doubles. Four Luther players also received recognition -- Allen and Helms in both singles and doubles and Cassandra Chalhoub and Lola White-Baer in singles. Central's Angie Allgood, Loras' Elizabeth Dickhut and Wartburg's Jenny Dallenbach picked up the final three all-conference spots in singles.

Dickhut is the first Loras player to be named all-conference since Jen Phelan and Alisha Espey earned honors in 2006.

2012 All-Iowa Conference Women's Tennis
Most Valuable Player — Tai Lucero, Coe
Coach of the Year — Eric Rodgers, Coe
Singles	School	Year	Hometown/High School
Angie Allgood	CEN	Fr.	Muscatine, Iowa / Muscatine
Jordan Ferree	COE	So.	Pekin, Ill. / Pekin
Tai Lucero	COE	Jr.	Odessa, Texas / Permian
Sara Ohlman	COE	Sr.	Washington, Ill. / Washington
Michelle Schupbach	COE	Sr.	Cedar Falls, Iowa / Waterloo Columbus
Amy Sebastian	COE	Fr.	Mundelein, Ill. / Vernon Hills
Elizabeth Dickhut	LOR	So.	Appleton, Wis. / Xavier
Elise Allen	LUT	Sr.	Eagan, Minn. / Eastview
Cassandra Chalhoub	LUT	Sr.	Hiawatha, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Xavier
Maggie Helms	LUT	Fr.	Moline, Ill. / Moline
Lola White-Baer	LUT	So.	Iowa City, Iowa / West
Jenny Dallenbach	WAR	Sr.	Decorah, Iowa / Decorah
Doubles	School	Year	Hometown/High School
Laura Birky	COE	Fr.	Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Xavier
Jordan Ferree	COE	So.	Pekin, Ill. / Pekin
Tai Lucero	COE	Jr.	Odessa, Texas / Permian
Michelle Schupbach	COE	Sr.	Cedar Falls, Iowa / Waterloo Columbus
Elise Allen	LUT	Sr.	Eagan, Minn. / Eastview
Maggie Helms	LUT	Fr.	Moline, Ill. / Moline
Honorable Mention	School	Year	Hometown/High School
Elizabeth Hoffmann	COE	Jr.	Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Xavier
Melissa Davis	WAR	Fr.	Lakewood, Colo. / D'Evelyn
Claire Evans	WAR	Sr.	Alden, Iowa / Iowa Falls-Alden