 |
|
Women's Tennis Team Places Sixth at Nationals
5/15/03
 |
The 2002-2003 Women's Tennis Team (standing, l. to r.): Assistant Coach Ralph Bencivengo, Ya-ting Hsu, Head Coach Marc Vecchiolla, Landry Shelley, and Assistant Coach Barb Pleva; front row: Desiree Noel, Maureen Haggerty and Jana Sulerova. |
The Vikings didn't come home national champions this year. But Mercer's Women's Tennis Team had a strong showing at the NJCAA Tournament in College Station, TX, sending two teams to the finals before placing sixth.
With a one-player deficit going into the tournament, the team was forced to give up matches in the #5 singles and the #2 doubles slots. But the five women who did play represented Mercer admirably, according to Head Coach Marc Vecchiolla. "Even with the depleted line-up, they were all determined to give their best showing. It didn't really make a difference to them that they didn't have a realistic chance to win the title," said Vecchiolla.
Ya-ting Hsu went to the final at second singles, while the team of Maureen Haggerty and Desiree Noel made it to the final in third doubles. Landry Shelley won her consolation final at first singles. The first doubles team of Shelley and Hsu lost in the consolation final. Jana Sulerova battled fiercely at fourth singles, falling in a tiebreaker in the third set of the semifinal round.
Three Mercer players – Hsu, Haggerty and Noel – earned All-American honors. Noting that four of his five players should be returning next season, Vecchiolla is optimistic about the coming tennis season, which starts in September. "The tournament left them hungry," he said. "As soon as it ended, they were talking about next year. I think they'd forgo June, July and August if they could get to September any sooner."
Vecchiolla notes that the tournament was a great experience for his team. "In that three-day event, I could see them grow as players and as people. Traveling cross-county and meeting other players who were the best in their region made a big impact. After watching the trophy ceremony, they said, 'That’s the next step. I want to be there.'"
Assistant coaches for this year's team were Ralph Bencivengo and Barb
Pleva.