Women's Tennis Opens Season At Home This Weekend

9/4/2019 6:00:00 PM

MATCH INFORMATION
Match #1
Daemen Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. District of Columbia Firebirds (0-0, 0-0 ECC)
Friday, Sept. 6 | 3 p.m.
Williamsville, N.Y. | Williamsville South HS

Match #2
Daemen Wildcats vs. Millersville Marauders (0-0, 0-0 PSAC)
Saturday, Sept. 7 | 4 p.m.
Williamsville, N.Y. | Williamsville South HS

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

1. The Wildcats rebounded from a slow start to the 2018-19 season, posting a 6-6 record during the spring to finish at 6-18 overall. They'll look to recapture some of that momentum when making their 2019-20 season debut this weekend with an East Coast Conference dual match vs. District of Columbia, and a non-conference matchup with Millersville. Four players return to the roster, headlined by junior Christina Stasiuk who already ranks fifth in team history with 47 combined singles/doubles wins over her first two collegiate seasons. Stasiuk posted a program-record 18 singles as a freshman, and has won nearly 55 percent of her singles matches in the last two seasons. Other returners include Andrea D'Sa, Alliya Foster and Courtney Otis who each gained valuable experience last season. The roster has been bolstered by the addition of four newcomers, including German native Lena Gruber.

2. The UDC Firebirds bring back four players, including three all-conference selections, from their 2018-19 team that went 13-5 overall and 5-2 in ECC play. The Firebirds earned the No. 3 seed to the ECC tournament last fall, but bowed out in the semfinals against eventual league champion New York Tech. Junior Simone Parn, a first-team All-ECC pick, headlines the Firebird returners. UDC has been picked second in the ECC preseason poll released last week, and Friday's match marks their season opener. All six players on the UDC roster hail from foreign countries (Italy, Slovakia, Colombia, Canada, Estonia, Poland).

3. Millersville looks to be a team on the rise. After winning a combined seven matches in 2016-17 and 2017-18, the Marauders went 9-16 overall last season. It marked the program's most in more than a decade (12-4 in 2004-05). Millersville also posted a 3-2 record in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference matches. Their 13-player roster features nine returners, including sophomores Kelsey Heckert and Jasmine Morris who were each All-PSAC selections last season. Saturday's match against Daemen marks the Marauders' 2019-20 season opener. The Wildcats and Marauders have met in each of the last two seasons; Daemen struck first with an 8-1 win in October of 2017, but the Marauders bounced back with a 6-1 win in last season's meeting.

Print Friendly Version