Women’s Tennis Team to Focus on Details this Season
9/23/05
It’s not often that a Mercer sports team brings back all but one starter. When that team happens to be Women’s Tennis, which won the national championship in May, there’s plenty of optimism for its chances this year. According to Head Coach Marc Vecchiolla, the first step is, as always, taking it one match at a time with the goal of winning the Region 19 title for the ninth consecutive year.
In its opening match against Gloucester County College on Sept. 20, the Vikings faced what Vecchiolla considers the team’s toughest competition. (The Vikings face Gloucester again on Oct. 4.) Playing without two of its starters, the match results were close, as the Vikings won 5-4. “To win against a team of such quality shows what great depth we have; everyone contributed to this victory,” he reported.
Looking at the season ahead, Vecchiolla believes that the Vikings have the opportunity to push the rest of the region to a higher level. “To have a national championship team come back almost in its entirety is unusual,” he admits. “Many teams are scared to play us, but they also really want to beat us. It will make us better in the long run.”
With so many returning players, Vecchiolla and his assistant coaches, Ralph Bencivengo and Barb Pleva, plan to focus on details. “We know our players strengths and weaknesses. We are going to challenge these girls to work on particular areas of their game. We are going to switch up the doubles teams to keep them fresh.”
The roster includes ten players, evidence of the sport’s popularity at Mercer. “We will travel with eight,” Vecchiolla said. “The other two will practice with us in order to earn a spot next year.” While the team lost one of its fiercest competitors in graduating sophomore Silvina Wills, talented returning players include: Natalia Dabrowska (no. 1), Caitlin Bagdonas (no. 2), Rachel Hendrickson (no. 3), Krystle Duay (no. 4), Siobhan Cahill (no. 5), Sherry Lin (no. 6), and Monica Nichols (no. 8), along with newcomers Jane Senor (no. 7), Daniela Provost (no. 9) and Jessica Fleming (no. 10). Doubles teams include Dabrowska/Senor at no. 1; Cahill/Bagdonas at no. 2; Hendrickson/Duay at no. 3; Lin/Nichols at no. 4; and Provost/Fleming at no. 5.
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