Women's Tennis Hosts District of Columbia In ECC Match Friday

10/13/2022 12:01:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

Match #7
Daemen Wildcats (2-4, 1-2 ECC) vs. District of Columbia Firebirds (3-1, 1-0 ECC)
DATE: Friday, Oct. 14
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Williamsville, N.Y. | Miller Tennis Center

BACK IN ACTION
The Daemen women's tennis team continues East Coast Conference play when it hosts the University of the District of Columbia Friday night.

LAST TIME OUT
Daemen picked up its first league win of the year following a 5-2 victory over crosstown rival D'Youville this past Saturday. Daemen swept all three doubles matches to earn the one point as per NCAA Division II scoring. The Daemen tandem of junior Frida Rubio (San Diego, Calif.) and sophomore Kitsa Scime (Williamsville, N.Y.) improved to 3-1 in doubles play this year following a 6-0 win over Yuliia Kashtelian and Khushi Agarwal at No. 1 doubles. Sophomore Yinett Del Leon (Cape Coral, Fla.) and freshman Carly Armitage (Rochester, N.Y.) also posted a 6-0 score over Paola Ermina and Julia Clapper at No. 2 doubles, while senior Mackenzie Schayes (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and senior Ailish McDevitt (Jamesville, N.Y.) downed Eli Katelyn Hoover and Taylor-Anne Austin, 6-1, at No. 3 doubles. Daemen built a 5-0 lead and secured the win, before the Saints earned the final two points. Scime downed Agarwai at No. 2 (6-0, 6-0), Del Leon defeated Ermina at No. 3 (6-0, 6-1), Armitage defeated Clapper at No. 4 (6-0, 6-0) and Schayes took down Hoover at No. 5 (6-0, 6-0). Scime improved to 7-3 in singles play this year following her win today, while Del Leon and Armitage both picked up their fourth singles victory.

BACK AT THE HELM
Second-year head coach Richard Greco, Jr. returns after leading the Wildcats to their second-straight appearance in the ECC Tournament last fall. The Wildcats finished with a 7-10 overall record and a 2-3 mark in ECC play last year. The seven wins were the most in a season for Daemen since posting 10 wins in 2017-18.

RETURNING VETERANS
The Wildcat returners are headlined by junior Frida Rubio (San Diego, Calif.). Rubio, who earned ECC Rookie of the Year and all-conference honors two years ago, posted a 10-9 mark at No. 1 singles last year and a 9-9 record in doubles play. Rubio has gone 19-16 in singles play over her career and already ranks seventh in both combined singles and doubles wins (36) and total singles wins (19) among the program's all-time leaders. Senior Mackenzie Schayes (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and sophomore Kitsa Scime (Williamsville, N.Y.), who posted a combined 13 singles and 10 doubles wins last year, also return to the lineup. Scime won her first four singles matches this year and owns a team best 7-3 singles record this season. She has moved into the Top-10 in career singles victories among Daemen's all-time leaders with 15. Senior Ailish McDevitt (Jamesville, N.Y.) and sophomore Yinett Del Leon (Cape Coral, Fla.) are also back. Del Leon owns a 4-5 singles record this season.

FRESH FACES
The team welcomes freshmen Carly Armitage (Rochester, N.Y.) and Dania Mehani (Amherst, N.Y.) to the lineup. Armitage has won three of her last four singles matches and stands at 4-6 in singles play on the year.

POLL POSITION
Daemen has been picked fourth in the 2022-23 East Coast Conference Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll. Daemen earned 16 points in the poll voting, edging Molloy University (13 points) and D'Youville University (seven points) for a spot among the league's top four teams heading into the 2022-23 season. The University of the District of Columbia, which went unbeaten in league play and claimed its first ECC Tournament championship since 2011 last year, received five of the six first-place votes and totaled 35 points to top the poll. St. Thomas Aquinas College (28 pts) collected the other first-pace vote and edged out Queens College (27 pts) for second place.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen is idle until next Friday (Oct. 21) when it hosts Molloy in an ECC match.

SCOUTING THE FIREBIRDS
District of Columbia opened the 2022-23 season with three-straight wins over Frostburg State (7-0), Millersville (7-0) and Molloy (7-0), before suffering a 5-2 loss to Jefferson this past Sunday. The Firebirds went 15-3 overall last year (5-0 ECC), claimed the ECC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament. UDC was voted first in the 2022-23 ECC preseason coaches' poll. Senior Sophia Bellucco and junior Mariona Franco both earned first-team All-ECC honors last year, while sophomore Valentina Brienza was voted ECC Rookie of the Year. Graduate student Simone Parn is undefeated (4-0) at No. 1 singles during dual matches this year.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. UDC
Series Record: UDC, 9-0
At Daemen: UDC, 4-0
At UDC: UDC, 4-0
At Neutral Site: UDC, 1-0
Last Meeting: UDC 4, Daemen 0 | Oct. 29, 2021 | at Flushing, N.Y. (ECC Tournament Semifinals)

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

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