Women's Tennis Set For 4-Match Road Trip

10/10/2019 9:30:00 AM

MATCH INFORMATION
Match #6
Daemen Wildcats (0-5, 0-2 ECC) vs. Molloy Lions (2-4, 0-2 ECC)
Friday, Oct. 11 | 3 p.m.
Westbury, N.Y. | Eisenhower Park

Match #7
Daemen Wildcats vs. Queens Knights (4-0, 2-0 ECC)
Saturday, Oct. 12 | 1 p.m.
Flushing, N.Y. | Queens College Tennis Center

Match #8
Daemen Wildcats vs. Southern New Hampshire Penmen (9-1, 8-1 NE-10)
Sunday, Oct. 13 | 1 p.m.
Manchester, N.H. | Penmen Stadium

Match #9
Daemen Wildcats vs. Merrimack Warriors (3-0, 0-0 NEC)
Monday, Oct. 14 | 3 p.m.
North Andover, Mass. | North Andover HS

Here's three things to know about these upcoming matches for the Daemen women's tennis team...

1. The Wildcats return to action for the first time since a 7-0 loss to Division I Niagara on Sept. 29. Coach Kerry McDermott's team is in search of their first win of the season. They've played a tough schedule thus far with their five opponents combining for a 23-4 record this season. Freshman Lena Gruber (Munich, Germany) leads the Wildcats with two singles wins, and she's teamed with junior Christina Stasiuk (Bowmansville, N.Y.) on a pair of doubles wins as well. Stasiuk enters the weekend one win (singles or doubles) shy of becoming the fifth player in program history with 50 in a career, and one singles win shy of becoming just the fourth player in program history with 30 in a career.

2. The road trip opens with back-to-back East Coast Conference matches as the Wildcats take on Molloy and Queens. Daemen owns a 4-3 edge in the all-time series with Molloy, but the Lions won a 4-3 decision in last year's meeting, snapping the Wildcats' four-match winning streak against them. Both teams are in need of a win to keep themselves in the hunt for a conference tournament berth. The Lions are coming off a 7-0 with over Staten Island last weekend. Saturday's match comes against a Queens team that was the unanimous pick to finish first in the ECC this season, according to the preseason coaches' poll. The Knights have made 18 straight trips to the NCAA tournament, advancing to the Round of 16 in seven of the past nine seasons.

3. The road trip continues with matches against Southern New Hampshire and Merrimack. After being picked fourth in the Northeast-10 Conference preseason coaches' poll, SNHU sits atop the league as they head into the final weekend of their fall season. The Penmen have won 10+ matches in 10 of the last 11 seasons, and have made six NCAA tournament appearances in that span. Merrimack is transitioning from Division II to Division I, and the Warriors now compete as members of the Northeast Conference. Merrimack is coming off a 14-7 season in 2018-19, their final as a member of the Northeast-10 Conference. They've posted a 3-0 so far this season with all three wins coming against Division III opponents.

Print Friendly Version