Senior Paige Frost has led the Skyhawks to a fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Fourth-seeded Skyhawks open eighth NCAA Tournament appearance on Saturday
2013 NCAA Championships Program
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NCAA Division II Tournament Regional Schedules
NCAA Division II Championships Interactive Bracket
EASTON, Mass. (April 26, 2013) – Fourth-seeded Stonehill College, Northeast-10 Conference tournament champions and ranked fifth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Regional rankings released this week, makes its eighth NCAA Division II Tournament appearance as it hosts fifth-seeded Chestnut Hill (Pa.) College, ranked 50th nationally by the ITA and fourth in its regional rankings, for first round action at Charles Watt Tennis Courts on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Stonehill (20-3, 11-1 NE-10), who earned an automatic bid by way of its fourth Northeast-10 Conference Championship last weekend, is making its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Skyhawks are serving as host of the three team sub-regional, while third-seeded and 36th-ranked Queens (N.Y.) College is hosting the other four team sub-regional in Flushing, N.Y. Admission to the sub-regional at Stonehill is free of charge.
Stonehill will open the tournament against fifth-seeded Chestnut Hill (18-8, 6-2 CACC), who earned an at large bid as runners up in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, in an opening round matchup on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Griffins are making their second NCAA Tournament appearance after making its debut last season. The winner of Saturday's first round match will face top-seeded and 15th-ranked New York Institute of Technology (22-3, 6-1 ECC), who earned a first round bye, in Sunday's second round at Watt Courts at 9 a.m.
Stonehill features two regionally-ranked singles players for the first time in program history as well as the highest-ranked doubles team in program history in its lineup. Freshmen Bailey Paradiso (Birmingham, Mich./Marian) and Kirsti Toegemann (Narragansett, R.I./The Lincoln School) are ranked 12th and 15th, respectively, in the latest ITA East Regional rankings released this week and occupy the top two spots in the Skyhawks singles lineup. Toegemann and senior captain Paige Frost (Brigantine, N.J./Holy Spirit) form Stonehill's top doubles team and are ranked a program-best sixth in this week's ITA East Regional doubles rankings.
Junior Kaitlyn Martin has won 15-straight singles matches heading into the NCAA Tournament. |
Paradiso, an NE-10 All-Rookie Team selection and the first regionally-ranked singles player in program history, is a combined 41-17 in singles and doubles play in her first collegiate season, posting a 15-12 singles record, including a 13-9 mark at No. 1 doubles and 8-4 in NE-10 matches. She has recorded a 26-5 doubles record split between two partners, including a 14-2 record with her current teammate freshman Analise Kump (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) at No. 3 doubles, including a 6-1 clip in NE-10 play to collect second team All-NE-10 honors at that flight.
Toegemann, a second team All-NE-10 performer at No. 2 singles, is a combined 43-9 in her first collegiate season. The NE-10 All-Rookie team pick is 16-2 in dual match play, including an 11-1 record in NE-10 matches, posting a 10-2 record a No. 2 this spring after winning all six matches at No. 5 during the fall season. She is 21-4 for doubles, split between four different partners, posting a 9-2 record since being paired with Frost following the Skyhawks spring break trip, including 6-1 in NE-10 play to earn second team All-Conference honors at No. 1 doubles.
Frost and junior Kaitlyn Martin (Medway, Mass./Medway), a pair of first team All-Northeast-10 singles honorees, provide leadership for Stonehill. Frost, who earned MVP honors in leading Stonehill to the NE-10 Championship, is 21-5 overall for singles during her senior season, including a 19-2 clip in dual match play and winning all 12 of her NE-10 matches as she carries a nine match winning streak into the NCAA Tournament.
Martin, a first team All-NE-10 performer at No. 5 singles, enters the NCAA Tournament with a 15-match winning streak and joined Frost on the NE-10 All-Championship team. She is a combined 36-8 in singles and doubles play this season, posting a 22-4 singles record, including a 20-1 record in dual match play and winning all 13 matches at No. 5 singles, including a 12-0 mark in NE-10 play. She and senior Chelsea Haedrich (Islip, N.Y./Islip) have teamed up to post a 13-3 doubles record, including an 11-3 mark at No. 2, going 5-2 in NE-10 play.
Sophomore Meryl Lawrence (North Scituate, R.I./Mount Saint Charles Academy), a third team All-NE-10 honoree at No. 3 singles and NE-10 All-Championship team selection, has posted a 17-5 singles record this season, including a 16-4 dual match mark, posting an 8-2 mark in NE-10 play.
Freshman Bailey Paradiso is ranked 12th in the ITA East Regional rankings. |
Chestnut Hill, ranked fourth in the latest ITA East Regional rankings released on Wednesday, features three regionally-ranked singles players and two regionally-ranked doubles teams in its lineup. Senior Anastasiya Shcherbokova (Minsk, Belarus) is ranked eighth in the ITA East singles rankings and along with classmate Maria Parapouras (Victoria, Australia) are ranked fourth in the ITA regional doubles rankings. Parapouras is also ranked 19th in the regional singles rankings, while junior Kelly Dennis (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) is ranked 12th. Dennis and sophomore Morgan Oechsle (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) are ranked seventh in the regional doubles rankings.
Shcherbokova is 16-9 in singles play this season, including an 11-9 mark at No. 1 and a 6-1 clip in CACC play. She and Parapouras have teamed up to register an 11-5 mark at No. 1 doubles. Parapouras is 21-4 in singles play, including a 20-3 record at No. 3 and winning all seven CACC matches. Dennis is 14-8 in singles play this year, posting a 5-2 record in CACC play and an 11-6 mark at No. 2. She and Oechsle have paired up to post a 9-5 clip at No. 2 doubles.
Saturday marks the second ever meeting between these two programs, the first in postseason play. Stonehill edged Chestnut Hill 5-4 in Philadelphia, Pa., on September 17, 2010, with Frost and Martin leading the Skyhawks as double-winners as the squad fed off a 2-1 advantage following doubles play by winning at the three bottom flights. Shcherbakova and Dennis were double-winners for the Griffins.
Despite not playing a dual match, there were three head-to-head matches at the ITA East Regional between Stonehill and Chestnut Hill in September with Stonehill coming out on top in all three. Paradiso defeated Dennis in the first round of the A-Singles Championships, 7-5, 6-3. Martin topped freshman Axe Owens (Trenton, N.J./Pennington School) in the opening round of the B-singles bracket, while Toegemann posted an 8-5 win over freshman Iman Williams-Mulesa (Pickering, Ontario/The Bishop Strachan School) in the B-singles bracket round of 32 on her way to the finals.
The second East Regional bracket at Queens (16-2, 7-0 ECC) also includes second-seeded and 48th-ranked Concordia (N.Y.) College (14-5, 8-0 CACC), sixth-seeded Goldey-Beacom College (14-5, 7-1 CACC) and seventh-seeded Southern New Hampshire University (16-8, 12-0 NE-10) on Saturday and Sunday. The two East Regional winners will advance to the NCAA Championships in Surprise, Ariz., at Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex from May 8-11.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.
East Region #1
Hosted by Stonehill College
Saturday, April 27
#5 Chestnut Hill at #4 Stonehill, 11 a.m.
Sunday, April 28
#1 New York Tech vs. #5 Chestnut Hill/#4 Stonehill, 9 a.m.
East Region #2
Hosted by Queens (N.Y.) College
Saturday, April 27
#6 Goldey-Beacom at #3 Queens, 10:30 a.m.
#7 Southern New Hampshire vs. #2 Concordia (N.Y.), 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 28
Saturday winners, TBA
