Postseason Berth on the Line as Women's Tennis Battles D'Youville

10/18/2024 11:30:00 AM

By: CONTACT: Max Sacco, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | msacco@daemen.edu

ON THE COURT
The Daemen University women's tennis team returns to Western New York to play crosstown rival D'Youville University on Oct. 19 with opening serve set for 5 p.m. The winner of the match will qualify as the fourth and final team for the 2024 East Coast Conference Women's Tennis Championship which will take place Oct. 25 through Oct. 26 in Flushing, N.Y. Daemen has qualified for the ECC Tournament the past four seasons dating back to 2020-21 season.

LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats earned their third consecutive win and improved to 5-3 away from home with a 5-2 victory over Millersville University back on Oct. 15. Millersville opened the doubles portion of the match by winning at court No. 1, but Yinett Del Leon (Cape Coral, Fla.) and Zoe Gietmann (Hamburg, Germany) responded with a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles to tie the match. Tied 1-1, the combination of Kitsa Scime (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Stephanie Baier (Boise, Idaho) outlasted Lauren Hayes and Luci Consigliere, 7-5, at No. 2 doubles to secure the first point of the afternoon for Daemen. Moving to singles, Scime doubled the Wildcats lead with a 6-0, 6-1, win over Chloe Abramowitz at No. 2 singles. The Marauders answered back with a win at No. 3 singles as Hayes defeated Del Leon, 6-2, 6-0. Frida Rubio (San Diego, Calif.) earned her third consecutive singles victory with a 1-6, 6-3, 10-6, triumph over Hui Jen Soo. Consigliere cut the Daemen lead back down to one, 3-2, with a 7-5, 6-2, win over Bella Bjerkan (Elmhurst, Ill.) at No. 4 singles. Still, the freshman duo of Baier and Gietmann each won at No. 5 and No. 6 singles respectively to secure the 5-2 win for Daemen.

BEST OF BOISE
Tied for second on team in singles wins, Baier has won her last three matches dating back to Oct. 11 at Molloy and is tied with Rubio for second on the team in singles wins with seven. Of her seven wins, three have come at both No. 5 and 6 singles along with one win at No. 2 singles. The Timberline High School product has notched two wins this season where she did not drop a single set (Sept. 28 at SUNY Fredonia & Oct. 11 at Molloy). Baier and her partner, junior Carly Armitage (Rochester, N.Y.), are also tied for the team lead in doubles wins with five.

CLOSING IN ON HISTORY
Scime currently sits four wins away from claiming the program record for singles wins with 50. Currently, the Williamsville, N.Y., native, has 46 career singles wins which places her third all-time in program history and one away from tying Hayle Scanlan (2013-17) for second all-time. Christina Stasiuk (2017-22) holds the program record for career singles wins with 49. This season, Scime is 8-4 overall with a 6-4 mark on No. 2 singles and 2-0 record at No. 1 singles.

PRESEASON POLLS
The Wildcats were tabbed fourth in the 2024 ECC Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll following a vote of the leagues six coaches back on Aug. 19. Greco has led Daemen to the postseason all three years while at the helm of the program, qualifying as the fourth seed last season. Queens College, the defending ECC Regular Season champions, received four first-place votes and topped the poll with 34 points. Defending ECC Tournament champions St. Thomas Aquinas College finished second in the poll, garnering two first-place votes (31 points) and the University of the District of Columbia (24 points) rounded out the top three. The Wildcats, who were tabbed fourth in the preseason poll last season as well, earned 18 points to come fourth in the poll. D'Youville University (11) and Molloy University (8) were the final two teams in the preseason poll.

SCOUTING D'YOUVILLE (2-6, 1-3 ECC)
The Saints earned their second win of the year and first win since Sept. 7 with a 6-1 victory over Molloy on Oct. 12. Senior Yulia Kashtelian and freshman Mina Randjelovic lead D'Youville in singles wins with four each. Kashtelian and Randjelovic have also compiled a 2-1 record on doubles, playing all three matches together at the No.1 court.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen has never lost to D'Youville as they are 11-0 against the Saints in a series that dates back to the 2013 season.

UP NEXT
With a win, the will qualify as the fourth and final team for the 2024 East Coast Conference Women's Tennis Championship which will take place Oct. 25 through Oct. 26 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