Porter is ranked 15th in the Oracle/ITA East Region singles rankings. (PHOTO BY Brian Ballweg) |
Two-time defending NE10 regular season champions edge out Adelphi in poll
NE10 Releases Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll
EASTON, Mass. (August 15, 2018) – The two-time defending regular season champion Stonehill College women's tennis team is the preseason pick by the Northeast-10 Conference's 12 head coaches to finish atop the NE10 standings once again, the league announced today.
Stonehill, which posted a perfect 12-0 mark in NE10 regular season play last fall, collected 115 points and seven of the 12 first place votes to top the NE10 preseason coaches' poll. The Skyhawks edged out Adelphi University, the three-time defending NE10 tournament champions, who received 114 points and four first place votes, while Southern New Hampshire University is ranked third and received the final first place vote and 96 points. Assumption College (86 points) is picked fourth and Le Moyne College (82) rounds out the top five in the poll.
Stonehill, under the direction of 2017 NE10 Coach of the Year Marc Maloney, in his fifth season, ranked No. 42 in the latest Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II national rankings, returns seven letterwinners, including five All-NE10 performers for the 2018-19 season. Junior Alexandra Vo (Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania/Nazareth Academy), a three-time All-NE10 first team performer over her career, including both No. 2 singles and doubles as a sophomore, and senior Nicole Downey (Groveland, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional), a two-time All-NE10 performer, lead the list of returnees for the Skyhawks. Vo enters her junior season ranked No. 9 in the latest Oracle/ITA East Region doubles rankings, along with classmate and doubles partner Annelise Howick (Jacksonville, Florida/Creekside), has posted a combined 60-27 record in singles and doubles play, winning all 23 of her regular season NE10 singles matches and posting a career 19-5 doubles mark in NE10 play. Downey, a third team All-NE10 performer at No. 4 singles last fall, enters her final collegiate season with a combined 74-30 record in singles and doubles play over her career, including a 27-4 singles record in NE10 regular season matches.
Vo and Howick are the ninth-ranked doubles team in the region after posting an 11-1 NE10 record last year. (PHOTO BY Brian Ballweg) |
Sophomore Isabelle Porter (Jupiter, Florida/William T. Dwyer), ranked No. 15 in the Oracle/ITA East Region singles rankings, looks to build off a freshman season in which she posted a combined 24-11 mark, including a 16-5 singles record by winning all eight of her NE10 singles matches to earn All-NE10 first team honors. Howick an Vo earned All-NE10 first team honors at No. 2 doubles for the Skyhawks, while sophomore Bethany Hammond (Belgrade, Maine/Saint Dominic) rounds out Stonehill's returning All-NE10 performers after earning first team honors at No. 3 doubles last fall. Hammond finished her freshman season with a 12-3 doubles record overall, including 8-0 in the NE10, while Howick owns a 19-13 career doubles clip, including 13-7 last season in which she and Vo were 11-1 in the NE10.
Junior Caroline Ray (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) and sophomore Kate Cunningham (Somerset, England/IMG Academy) round out Stonehill's returnees for this upcoming season. Ray has posted a combined 19-6 record in singles and doubles play over her career, including a 10-0 combined NE10 record. Cunningham was a combined 24-7 during her freshman season, including a 10-4 singles mark while going 7-1 in the NE10, and a 14-3 doubles record, winning all seven NE10 matches.
Stonehill, which earned its 12th NCAA Tournament bid this past spring, opens its 2018 fall schedule on Saturday, September 8, when it hosts Saint Michael's College for an NE10 match at Charles Watt Tennis Courts at 5 p.m.
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