2024 Women's Tennis Season Preview
MCCC women’s tennis will open their 2024 season on March 19th. Head Coach Marc Vecchiolla is excited about the team and their potential this season following a 25th place finish at the NJCAA Division I National Championship in 2023.
Last season Mercer women’s tennis placed 25th at the NJCAA Division I National Championship with just a roster of four players. Vecchiolla has a full scoring roster of six this season and is excited to see how the team can fare this year with two additional players.
Mercer will return 1st Singles and 1st Doubles player Valeria Vargas (Valencia, Venezuela/Instituto Santa Cruz) from the 2023 team. Freshmen players expected to add depth to the Vikings lineup include Jesssica Buker (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert), Diana Kalajdzic (East Windsor, NJ/Hightstown), Leticia Kitio (Newark, NJ/Lawrence), Makenna Swasey (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) and Andrea Vasquez (San Felipe, Venezuela/Hightstown).
Kitio was a Mercer County Tournament Champion while at Lawrence and is expected to lead the Vikings along with Vargas. Kalajdzic had ten individual wins at 2nd Singles for Hightstown in the 2021-22 season and was Hightstown’s #1 Singles player last fall. Swasey won six individual matches at 2nd Singles for Steinert in the 2022-2023 season. Vasquez won eight individual matches at 2nd Singles for Hightstown in the 2022-23 season and 12 matches at 3rd Singles for Hightstown in the 2021-2022 season.
Vecchiolla is also excited about the closeness of the team, which has been practicing together since the fall. Kitio and Vargas are expected to lead the Vikings but everyone staying healthy is also going to be key to Mercer’s success. Vecchiolla thinks a full roster of experienced players can have a winning season this spring. Vecchiolla also believes his team can improve upon their 25th place finish at the NJCAA Division I National Championship.
“We hope to have a good showing at Nationals and improve upon our finish from last season. With Leticia and Valeria leading us along with experienced newcomers, I expect us to have a strong showing at Nationals this spring. Our goals overall are the same every year, ‘work hard, learn and have fun.”
Vikings women’s tennis opens the 2024 season on March 19th in a match vs Harford CC. The Vikings have a competitive schedule which includes a trip to USC Sumter against three of the top Division I women’s teams in April (Abraham Baldwin, Meridian and Wallace State) and matches against NCAA Division III opponents Stockton University and Cairn University.
Vecchiolla, who has led MCCC women’s tennis to four national titles will enter his 28th season as Head Coach of the Vikings. He will be assisted by former All-American and long-time Assistant Coach Barb Pleva and Assistant Qasim Khan.
For the latest on MCCC women’s tennis, visit: https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_women_tennis.shtml
Valeria Vargas played 1st Singles and 1st Doubles for the Vikings in 2023
MCCC women's tennis finished 25th at the NJCAA Division I National Championship in 2023 and is looking to improve upon that finish in 2024