Women's Tennis Hosts Molloy In ECC Match Friday

ECC Tournament Berth On The Line

10/20/2022 11:42:00 AM

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

Match #8
Daemen Wildcats (2-5, 1-3 ECC) vs. Molloy Lions (0-7, 0-3 ECC)
DATE: Friday, Oct. 21
TIME: 8 p.m.
LOCATION: Williamsville, N.Y. | Miller Tennis Center

BACK IN ACTION
The Daemen women's tennis team concludes its East Coast Conference schedule when it hosts Molloy University Friday night. A Daemen victory would secure a spot in the upcoming four-team ECC Championship tournament. The Wildcats are looking to make their third-straight appearance in the ECC Tournament.

LAST TIME OUT
District of Columbia improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the ECC following a 6-1 victory over Daemen last Friday. Daemen saw its two-match winning streak snapped and dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the ECC. UDC swept all three doubles matches to earn the one point as per NCAA Division II scoring. The UDC tandem of Simone Parn and Sofia Bellucco posted a 6-2 win over junior Frida Rubio (San Diego, Calif.) and sophomore Kitsa Scime (Williamsville, N.Y.) of Daemen at No. 1 doubles. No. 2 doubles saw Laura Marie and Celia Bastin of UDC defeat sophomore Yinett Del Leon (Cape Coral, Fla.) and freshman Carly Armitage(Rochester, N.Y.) by a 6-1 score. UDC completed the sweep of doubles play after Mariona Franco and Valentina Brienza got past Daemen seniors senior Mackenzie Schayes (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and Ailish McDevitt (Jamesville, N.Y.), 6-0, at No. 3 doubles. UDC built a 5-0 lead and secured the win, before the Wildcats earned their lone point of the night after Scime defeated Franco at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-0. Scime has now won four of her last five singles matches and improved to 8-3 overall in singles play. Scime has already equaled the total number of singles win she posted last year and now ranks eight in career singles wins among Daemen's all-time leaders. Parn and Rubio had a good battle at No. 1 singles, with Parn pulling out a 6-3, 6-2 win to improve to 5-0 on the year in dual matches,.

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 19-17 in singles play over her career and already ranks seventh in both combined singles and doubles wins (37) 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 8-3 singles record this season. She has moved into the Top-10 in career singles victories among Daemen's all-time leaders with 16. Senior Ailish McDevitt (Jamesville, N.Y.) and sophomore Yinett Del Leon (Cape Coral, Fla.) are also back. Del Leon owns a 4-6 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 five singles matches and stands at 4-7 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 closes out the regular-season portion of its fall schedule on Sunday (Oct. 23) when it plays a non-league match at Division I Niagara.

SCOUTING THE LIONS
Molloy opened the 2022-23 season with four-straight non-conference losses, before opening ECC play with losses to District of Columbia (7-0), Queens (7-0) and St. Thomas Aquinas (6-1). The Lions went 1-7 overall (1-4 ECC) last year, was voted fifth in the 2022-23 ECC preseason coaches' poll. Junior Camilla Cabalerro Abreu is a team-best 3-4 in singles play this year and posted a 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 win over Viktoria Pavlovets of St. Thomas Aquinas at No. 2 singles last Friday.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MOLLOY
Series Record: Daemen, 5-4
At Daemen: Tied, 2-2
At Molloy: Daemern, 3-2
Last Meeting: Daemen 6, Molloy 1 | Oct. 3, 2021 | at Westbury, N.Y.

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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