Women's Tennis Preseason Poll Has Moravian On Top
MADISON, N.J. – The Moravian College women's tennis team earned its third Landmark Conference championship last season, and are the favorites to claim a fourth crown as voted in the Landmark Preseason Women's Tennis Poll. The seven head women's tennis coaches and sports information directors at each institution that sponsor the sport were polled for the preseason ballot.
Moravian was the unanimous choice as the top selection, earning 65 points to finish first in the voting. Only six points separated the remaining teams in the top four as The University of Scranton was second with 50, followed by The Catholic University of America with 47 and Goucher College with 44.
The Greyhounds produced a 10-7 record and then won a pair of matches in the Landmark postseason to capture a third title in four seasons. Last year's Player of the Year Chelsea Ott is one of six returning players for the team and she's joined by fellow All-Conference honoree Katie Zien.
Scranton produced an upset in the Landmark semifinals to reach its second Landmark title match, and ultimately finished 6-10 on the season. Nine players will be back for the Royals this year, led by Elisha Connell who was a second-team All-Conference performer last year.
Catholic improved by nine victories last season to finish 15-7 overall and post a 4-2 Landmark record. The team has nine players back from last year's roster, including All-Conference players Caitlin Porter and Andrea Ingram, who was also voted the Landmark Rookie of the Year.
Goucher posted an unbeaten conference regular season, finishing 5-0 to earn the top seed for the postseason. The team returns eight players from that squad but did lose three seniors, including one All-Conference pick. All-Conference singles player Meaghan Lee is one of three returning All-Conference performers
Susquehanna University narrowly claims the fifth spot in the poll with 27 points. The team had 14 underclassmen on last year's roster, and went 3-0 during the fall season after a 9-4 record last year. All-Conference players Julia Lerner and Abigail Hess are two of the 14 returning players for the Crusaders.
Drew University is one point behind Susquehanna with 26 points to place sixth. The Rangers have seven players back in the fold from last season, led by All-Conference performers Chelsea Lipp and Sofia Madrigal. The Rangers won the conference title in 2010, and finished 5-9 overall in 2010-11.
Juniata College rounds out the voting by collecting 14 points. The Eagles went 5-12 overall last season and got off to a 4-1 start in the fall. New Head Coach Jason Cohen takes over a program that has four players back from last year, led by All-Conference singles selection Stacie Beegle.
The spring season will get underway for the majority of the conference teams with spring break trips in early March. Conference play will begin March 17 and 18 with Catholic playing at Susquehanna and Goucher hosting Scranton. The first full weekend of action will be March 24.
