Two Non-League Matches On Tap For Women's Tennis This Weekend

9/8/2023 9:25:00 AM

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

MATCH 2: Sunday, Sept. 10 | at William Smith Herons | Geneva, N.Y. | 12 p.m.
William Smith Links: Roster | Schedule

AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen women's tennis team plays its first two dual matches of the 2023-24 season this weekend with road matches at St. John Fisher University (Saturday) and William Smith College (Sunday).

THE WILDCATS
Third-year head coach Richard Greco, Jr. returns five players from last year's team and the 2023-24 roster features five newcomers (two transfers, three freshmen). The 10-player roster is the largest for Daemen since the 2015-16 season. Senior Frida Rubio (San Diego, Calif.) and junior Kitsa Scime (Williamsville, N.Y.) top the list of returning players. Rubio enters her fourth season with the program this fall. The ECC Rookie of the Year and second team All-ECC pick as a freshman in 2021-22, she has played in 47 singles matches over her career and ranks seventh in career singles wins at Daemen with 24. Scime enjoyed an outstanding second season with the program last year. Playing primarily No. 2 singles throughout the year, she went 15-6 in singles play and is now 19-8 in her last 27 singles matches dating back to the end of her freshman season. Her 15 wins last year rank as the second most in a single season in program history, behind only Christina Stasiuk who posted 18 wins during the 2017-18 season. A second-team All-ECC pick and team MVP last year, Scime has moved into seventh place in career singles victories (24) among Daemen's all-time leaders. Junior Yinett Del Leon (Cape Coral, Fla.) returns for her third season with the team. She played No. 3 singles last year and ranked second to Scime in singles wins, finishing with an 8-12 singles record. Sophomore Carly Armitage (Rochester, N.Y.) is coming off a solid rookie campaign in which she went 7-13 in singles action and 7-11 in doubles play. Fellow sophomore Dania Mehani (Amherst, N.Y.) also returns. Juniors Emily Jablonski (Alden, N.Y.) and Arianna Lysiak (Depew, N.Y.) both played their freshman and sophomore seasons at nearby Medaille University and both earned all-conference (Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference) honors as freshmen. Freshmen Katelyn Bechtel (Amherst, N.Y.), Maya Chon (Wichita, Kan.) and Laine Miklas (Lancaster, N.Y.) also join the fold. Chon picked up her first career singles win during the Allegheny Invitational last weekend.

THE CARDINALS
St. John Fisher is a NCAA Division III member of the Empire 8 Conference. The Cardinals went 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the Empire 8 last year. Senior Kathryn Strait was named an Empire 8 Player to Watch prior to this season. She earned All-Empire 8 second team honors in singles and was a third team selection in doubles during the 2021 season.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's match will mark the first ever meeting between the two schools.

THE HERONS
William Smith is a NCAA Division III member of the Liberty League. The Herons went 7-11 overall and 2-6 in the Liberty League last year. Junior Isabell Goings-Perrot and sophomore Haley Levine return after earning honorable mention all-conference honors last year.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's match will mark just the second all-time meeting between the two schools. William Smith posted a 5-4 victory over Daemen last year in Geneva, N.Y. Frida Rubio, Kitsa Scime and Carly Armitage all picked up singles wins for Daemen.

UP NEXT
Daemen hits the road again next weekend (Sept. 15-18) to take part in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region Championships in 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.

Follow the Daemen women's tennis program on Twitter and Facebook at @DaemenTennis

Print Friendly Version