Fall Schedule Announced For Daemen Women's Tennis

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Women's Tennis | 8/15/2018 11:30:00 AM

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's tennis team will open the 2018-19 season on Saturday, September 8 with a non-conference dual match at Millersville University, first-year head coach Kerry McDermott announced today as part of the team's fall semester schedule. In all, the Wildcats' fall schedule includes 14 dual matches and one tournament.

"I am looking forward to starting a new season as the women's tennis coach at Daemen College," said McDermott who takes the reins at Daemen after spending the last 36 years as the head men's tennis coach at the University of Nebraska. "We have very challenging schedule this fall, but I'm hopeful that we can be competitive and really progress through the season."

The match at Millersville will mark the seventh consecutive season that Daemen has opened on the road. The Wildcats and Marauders met for the first time last season with Daemen scoring an 8-1 victory. Millersville is an affiliate of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and the Marauders are looking to rebound after going 3-17 overall and 2-3 in PSAC play last season.

Just days later, on Tuesday, September 11, the Wildcats jump into East Coast Conference action by hosting Roberts Wesleyan College. The newly-renovated courts at Williamsville South High School will serve as the Wildcats' outdoor venue this fall. Daemen will be seeking its first-ever win against the rival Redhawks of RWC who were one of five ECC teams to post at least 10 victories last season.

A highlight of the schedule comes in mid-September as the Wildcats travel to New York City for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association East Region Championship tournament which, for the second straight year, will be held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, site of the U.S. Open. The tournament, which is slated for Sept. 14-17, will feature several draws for both singles and doubles competition as teams from the three conferences that comprise the NCAA Division II East Region - the ECC, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and the Northeast-10 Conference - all compete. Further tournament details will be announced at a later date.

The Wildcats return to dual match play with a weekend road trip to Pennsylvania for matches against PSAC affiliates Seton Hill University (Saturday, Sept. 22) and Slippery Rock University (Sunday, Sept. 23). SHU posted a 7-9 overall record, including an even 3-3 mark in PSAC play last season. Slippery Rock was even a tad better, going 13-13 overall and 4-2 in the league. Daemen will be facing both Seton Hill and Slippery Rock for the first time in team history.

A mid-week ECC match comes to Williamsville South on Wednesday, September 26 as the Wildcats host Saint Thomas Aquinas College. STAC has emerged victorious in each of the five prior meetings between the two, but the two most recent wins have come by just a combined four points (5-4 in 2016-17, 6-3 in 2017-18).

The Division II tennis action will move indoors on Friday, September 28 when the Wildcats host a non-conference match vs. Salem University at Miller Tennis Center. Salem competes as an NCAA Division II independent, and the Tigers are in their fourth season as an intercollegiate program.

A season-long stretch of five consecutive road matches begins on Sunday, September 30 when the Wildcats trek to New England to face Merrimack College ouf of the NE-10 Conference. The Warriors posted a 9-6 overall record and a 7-5 mark in NE-10 play last season, a conference record that qualified them as the No. 6 seed in the NE-10 Conference Tournament.

Back in Western New York, the Wildcats will face Division I affiliated Niagara University on Thursday, October 4. It'll mark the fourth consecutive season that the Wildcats and Purple Eagles have gone head-to-head.

A multi-match conference road trip has the Wildcats facing the University of the District of Columbia (Saturday, Oct. 6), New York Institute of Technology (Monday, Oct. 8) and Long Island University Post (Tuesday, Oct. 9). Two of three opponents (NYIT, LIU Post) were ECC Tournament qualifiers last season, while the third (UDC) lost a tie-breaker for the fourth and final seed. UDC, NYIT and LIU Post combined for 22 wins last season, including a 14-7 record in ECC matches.

Daemen's longest home-stand comes at the conclusion of the fall campaign. Edinboro University, the fourth PSAC opponent on the docket, visits for an outdoor match at Williamsville South on Saturday, October 13. The conference slate wraps up with ECC foes Molloy College (Friday, Oct. 19) and Queens College (Saturday, Oct. 20) visiting the following weekend. Daemen owns a 4-2 record with four straight victories in the all-time series with Molloy. Queens went unscathed through ECC play last season (7-0) before being upset by NYIT in the conference tournament finals.

The top four seeds in the final ECC standings advance to the conference tournament which is slated for October 27-28 at the Queens College Tennis Center.

The Wildcats posted a 1-6 mark in league play last season, but also set a new team record for overall wins in a season by going 10-14. Eight of the team's victories last season came during the fall semester. Senior Jessica Robins (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) and sophomore Christina Stasiuk (Bowmansville, N.Y.) are the team's top returners. Robins holds a combined 57 wins in her career between singles and doubles play, tied for third in team history. Stasiuk shattered the team's single season record for singles victories with 18 in her rookie campaign last season.

For a full look at the team's fall semester schedule, click here. The spring semester portion of the Wildcats' 2018-19 schedule will be announced at a later date.

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Players Mentioned

Jessica Robins: 5' 0"; Senior

Christina Stasiuk: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Jessica Robins
: 5' 0"; Senior

Christina Stasiuk
: 5' 3"; Sophomore