Women's Tennis Hosts Fredonia In 2022 Home Opener Saturday

9/30/2022 9:22:00 AM

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

Match #5
Daemen Wildcats (0-4, 0-2 ECC) vs. Fredonia Blue Devils (0-6, 0-3 SUNYAC)
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 1
TIME: 12 p.m.
LOCATION: Williamsville, N.Y. | Williamsville South HS

BACK IN ACTION
The Daemen women's tennis team will play its first home match of the 2002-23 season Saturday (Oct. 1) when the Wildcats host SUNY Fredonia.

LAST TIME OUT
Daemen was one of 19 teams to take part in the annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Region Championships held last weekend at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. The Daemen women were represented by junior Frida Rubio (San Diego, Calif.), sophomores Kitsa Scime (Williamsville, N.Y.), and Yinett Del Leon (Cape Coral, Fla.) and freshman Carly Armitage (Rochester, N.Y.). Scime, Del Leon and Armitage all posted wins in the opening round, while Rubio was awarded a first-round bye. Scime squared off against Larize Nel of Wilmington and advanced to the round of 64 with an 8-4 victory. De Leon posted an 8-0 win over Amanda Oppedisano of Molly, while Armitage was victorious in her first-ever appearance at the event with an 8-2 win over Elizabeth McGeer of Assumption. All four Daemen players saw their time at the single-elimination tournament come to an end in the round of 64. Del Leon battled second-seeded Katarina Liebeck of Adelphi before suffering a 7-5, 7-6 (7-0) loss. Scime lost the opening game (6-4) against 13-seeded Liria Loria of Franklin Pierce, but Scime forced a tiebreaker after posting a 6-1 win in game two. Loria secured the win with a 10-3 win in the tie break. Armitage went up against 15^th-seeded Caroline Hany-Fawzy of Queens and suffered a 6-0, 6-3 loss. Rubio, who was seeded 28^th, faced off against unseeded Alison Isaac of Chestnut Hill and Isaac posted the 6-3, 6-3 upset. Scime and Rubio teamed up to win an opening round match in the doubles draw, taking down Vanya Tyagi and Rupkatha Mukherjee of Dominican, 8-3. Scime and Rubio then squared off against East Coast Conference rivals Elita Silins and Jemima Parkinson of St. Thomas Aquinas in the second round and the STAC duo advanced with an 8-4 win. Del Leon and Armitage also teamed up in the doubles play and they suffered an 8-1 setback to Verena Weindl and Alina Kupfer of Southern New Hampshire in the opening round.

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 is idle until next Saturday (Oct. 8) when it faces cross town rival D'Youville University in an ECC match.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
Fredonia is a member of the NCAA Division III State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). The Blue Devils remained winless on the year following a 6-3 loss to Penn State Behrend on Sept. 23. Fredonia plays D'Youville Friday, before taking on the Wildcats Saturday. Seniors Bella Surma and Caitlin Snyder and freshman Violet Hess picked up singles wins at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 respectively in the loss to Penn State Behrend.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. FREDONIA
Series Record: 2-2
At Daemen: 1-1
At Fredonoia: 1-1
Last Meeting: Daemen 9, Fredionia 0 | April 11, 2021 | at Fredonia, 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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