The College’s women’s tennis team kicked off their 2012 campaign in impressive fashion, picking up two victories against Rutgers-Newark University and Kean University. The two victories continue the Lions dominant conference play, winning their 144th straight New Jersey Athletic Conference match.
The Lions’ plethora of talented players make for lofty expectations in the upcoming season.
“I think that the expectations for the team this year is to have another great year and continue to compete well against other top ranked teams,” said senior Paige Aiello. “The biggest strength of our team is our depth. The talent level doesn’t drop off after a certain spot, meaning we have really strong players all the way down our lineup.”
In both matches against Scarlet Raiders and Cougars, the Lions dominated the court, winning both events by a score of 9-0. In singles competitions, sophomore Sarah Lippincott stood out by not losing a single game. On the season she is 12-0 in games. Other Lions who picked up wins in both events are senior Karisse Bendijo and freshman Jasmine Muniz-Cadorette.
The doubles competitions were equally impressive, matching the singles competitions punch for punch. Just as the singles, the doubles did not drop a match. Sophomore Deborah Wu and freshman Jasmine Muniz-Cadorette led the Lions in both events. The pairing picked up two victories, and is the only pair for the Lions that is 2-0 in matches for the young season.
The Lions have jumped off to a hot start, dominating the field of competition. The next event for the Lions is the Swarthmore College Invitational on Sept. 8-9. This event will be a good barometer for the Lions, as they will face some of the toughest competition in the nation.
“Starting off the season 2-0 is a great feeling for us as a team, it’s also really nice to show our three new freshmen that we are a dominating team in the NJAC and that they’re a part of it,” Aiello said. “This week we are going to be doing a lot of practicing to prepare for the tournament, there are going to be 3 strong teams there and this will be our first true test of our strength as a team this fall.”
