MCCC Women's Tennis Prepares for NJCAA Division I National Championship

 

4/30/24

 

Mercer women’s tennis will be headed to the NJCAA Division I National Championship, looking to improve upon their 25^th place finish from last spring.  2023 marked the first year the team competed as a scoring team at the Division I level.  The Vikings will travel to Tyler, Texas May 5^th-12^th, aiming for their highest finish as a Division I team.

 

Head Women’s Coach Marc Vecchiolla is excited to see how his team will do this year, as he has a full scoring squad of six this spring and only had four players last season.  Vecchiolla also has one of the top Singles players in the country, with freshman Leticia Kitio (Lawrence, NJ/Lawrence HS) currently ranked #34 at 1^st Singles in the latest ITA rankings.

 

The Vikings also return their top player from last spring sophomore Valeria Vargas (Valencia, Venezuela/Instituto Santa Cruz), the team’s captain and most experienced player.  Vecchiolla knows the trip to Nationals last year will help Vargas lead her teammates this spring. 

 

Vargas and Kitio are 10-3 at 1^st Doubles this spring.  The Vikings also have strong Singles and Doubles team in their other flights, including freshman Diana Kalajdzic (East Windsor, NJ/Hightstown HS) at 3^rd Singles and freshman Andrea Vasquez (San Felipe, Venezuela/Hightstown HS) at 4^th Singles.

Kitio, Vargas, and Vasquez are all 9-3 in Singles matches this spring.  Kalajdzic is 8-3 in Singles flights and Swasey is 10-2. 

In Doubles flights, Kitio and Vargas and Kalajdzic and Vasquez are 9-3 at 1^st and 2^nd Doubles respectively.  Swasey and Buker are 6-6 at 3^rd Doubles.

The depth of the Vikings is key as Coach Vecchiolla knows every point matters at Nationals.  Having the opportunity to score points at each flight gives the Vikings the opportunity for a much better showing than last spring.

In early April, the Vikings traveled to South Carolina to take on three of the top Division I teams in the country.  Coach Vecchiolla believes the strong competition the Vikings faced will strongly help them at the National Championship.  The Vikings played #13 Wallace State CC, #14 Meridian CC, and #18 Abraham Baldwin.

The Vikings have their final regular season match on Monday, April 29^th vs Cairn University before preparing to head to the NJCAA National Championship.

For the latest on Vikings’ women’s tennis, visit:

 

 

 

 

For the latest on Vikings women’s tennis, visit: https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_women_tennis.shtml