AMHERST, N.Y. – Tennis standouts
Hayle Scanlan (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) and
Mark Veitengruber (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) have been named the Daemen College Student-Athletes of the Month presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC for March 2017.
Scanlan, a senior, went 2-1 in singles competition during the month. She helped the Wildcats to an 8-1 win over Franklin College on March 14, as she posted a straight-set (6-2, 7-5) win at No. 2 singles and also teamed up with classmate
Karli Hollins (Orchard Park, N.Y./SUNY Geneseo) for an 8-3 win at first doubles. A day later she registered Daemen's only point in a loss to the University of Southern Indiana, battling to a 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 win at No. 2 singles. Her senior season and four-year career came to an end on March 16 during a 9-0 loss to powerful Bellarmine University. Despite the set back, Scanlan put forth a solid effort during the match—suffering a 6-3, 6-1 setback at No. 2 singles and teaming up with Hollins in an 8-4 loss at No. 1 doubles.
Her singles win during the USI match gave her 14 singles wins on the year and established a new program record for most singles victories in a season. Scanlan closes out her four-year career with several program records, including singles wins in a career (47) and total singles matches played (101). She also ranks first in team history with 46 doubles wins and 104 doubles matches played.
The women's tennis team closed out the year with a 9-15 overall record and a 1-6 mark in the East Coast Conference. The nine wins established a program-record for most wins a season.
Veitengruber, a junior, won five of his seven singles matches during March and in the process set a new program record for career singles wins. The Wildcats won three of their seven matches during the month, with three of the four loses coming by three points or less. After opening the month with a 6-3 loss to Post University, the Wildcats ran off three-straight wins over Millersville University (9-0), Franklin College (9-0) and Earlham College (5-4). The winning streak came to end following a 9-0 loss at powerful University of Southern Indiana, and the Wildcats closed out the month with hard-fought losses to Bellarmine University (5-4) and the University of the District of Columbia (5-4). The loss to UDC marked the East Coast Conference opener for the Wildcats.
Veitengruber prevailed in his first four singles matches of the month, as he posted straight-set wins at No. 2 singles against Post, Millersville and Franklin, and also posted a 7-6, 6-0 (7-5) win at No. 2 singles during the win over Earlham. After setbacks against USI and Bellarmine, he capped the month with a grueling 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles in the loss to UDC—which was picked third in the ECC preseason poll. The win against UDC's Diego Pinto gave him 33 singles wins in his career—breaking the program record of 32 set by
Gregory Lowe from 2012-16. The win against Pinto also earned him a spot of the weekly ECC honor roll.
Veitengruber set the program record for singles wins in a season (13) last year as a sophomore, and his eight singles wins this season leads the team.
The Wildcats (5-14, 0-1 ECC) open the month of April on the road, as they travel to New York Institute of Technology for an ECC match Saturday (April 1) and then play a non-league match at Caldwell University on Sunday (April 2).
