Women's Tennis Opens Conference Play This Weekend

9/15/2022 9:45:00 AM

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

Match #3
Daemen Wildcats (0-2, 0-0 ECC) vs. Queens Knights (0-0, 0-0 ECC)
DATE: Friday, Sept. 16
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Flushing, N.Y. | QC Tennis Bubble

Match #4
Daemen Wildcats (0-2, 0-0 ECC) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans (1-0, 0-0 ECC)
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 17
TIME: 11 a.m.
LOCATION: Sparkill, N.Y. | Riley Family Tennis Courts

START IT UP
The Daemen women's tennis team opens East Coast Conference play with road matches at Queens (Sept. 16) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Sept. 17) this weekend.

WILDCATS FALL TO LE MOYNE, WILLIAM SMITH IN DUAL MATCH OPENERS
Daemen opened dual match play last weekend with road matches at Le Moyne and William Smith. Le Moyne posted a 6-1 win over the Wildcats and William Smith outlasted Daemen in a marathon match, 5-4. Sophomore Kitsa Scime (Williamsville, N.Y.) enters the weekend unbeaten (4-0) in singles play thus far. She rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 win over Alicia Alvarez of Le Moyne and capped the weekend with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Audrey Camacho of William Smith. Scime also teamed up with freshman Carly Armitage (Rochester, N.Y.) for an 8-1 win over Camacho and Julia Pida at No. 2 doubles. Her efforts last weekend earned her ECC Player of the Week honors. Armitage picked up her first career singles victory at No. 4 singles against William Smith, as she outlasted Pida in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Junior Frida Rubio (San Diego, Calif.) picked up her first singles win of the year during the William Smith match following a 6-2, 6-4 win over Haley Levine at No. 1 singles. It marked the 18th career singles win for Rubio.

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 17-11 in singles play over her career and already ranks seventh in both combined singles and doubles wins (32) and total singles wins (17) 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. Senior Ailish McDevitt (Jamesville, N.Y.) and sophomore Yinett Del Leon (Cape Coral, Fla.) are also back.

FRESH FACES
The team welcomes freshmen Carly Armitage (Rochester, N.Y.) and Dania Mehani (Amherst, N.Y.) to the lineup.

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 returns to the New York City area next weekend when it takes part in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association East Region Championships. The four-day tournament (September 22-26) is being held once again at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center--the site of the U.S. Open--in the Flushing, 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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