Porter is ranked 13th in the region and a three-time All-NE10 performer for the Skyhawks |
Skyhawks carry 24-match NE10 winning streak into 2019-20 season
Stonehill Voted to Repeat in NE10 Women's Tennis Coaches' Poll
EASTON, Mass. (August 21, 2019) – For the third-straight year, the Stonehill College women's tennis program has topped the Northeast-10 Conference preseason poll, conducted by the league's 11 head coaches, it was announced this afternoon.
Stonehill, which has won the last three NE10 regular season championships and is the defending NE10 Tournament title holders as well, received nine of the 11 first place votes (coaches are not allowed to place their own teams) for 99 points overall. Adelphi University follows the Skyhawks in second with 82 points and a first place vote, with Le Moyne College close behind with 81 points and the remaining first place vote. Southern New Hampshire University (73 points) is picked fourth, Assumption College (68) fifth and the University of New Haven (62) predicted to claim the final NE10 Tournament spot in October.
Stonehill enters the season ranked No. 4 in the Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Regional rankings after posting a 14-6 record overall last season, including 11-0 in the NE10, finishing an undefeated NE10 regular season for the second-straight year on its way to a sixth NE10 Tournament title and 13th NCAA Division II Tournament bid. The Skyhawks have appeared in the NE10 Championship match five-straight years and ten of the last 11 years overall, winning four of its six tournament titles in that span, including a 4-0 win over Merrimack College, which has since moved on to the NCAA Division I Northeast Conference, at Charles Watt Tennis Courts last fall.
Vo is ranked 15th in the region and is a five-time All-NE10 honoree (PHOTO BY Lewis Glass/SportsPix) |
Stonehill has welcomed back Hall of Fame head coach Pam Arpé to the helm of the program after leading the Skyhawks to 157 dual match wins, five NE10 Championships and seven NCAA bids over ten seasons between 2004 and 2014. Stonehill returns eight letterwinners, including its top five singles players, from last year's squad and welcomes a talented list of four newcomers.
Senior Alexandra Vo and junior Isabelle Porter lead the list of returnees for Stonehill. Vo, ranked 15th in the Oracle/ITA Division II East Region singles rankings, enters her senior year with a combined 79-42 record in singles and doubles play, posting a 40-13 career singles mark, including a perfect 32-0 in the NE10, to go with a 39-29 doubles record, including 26-9 in the NE10, having collected All-NE10 honors five times. Porter, ranked 13th in the Oracle/ITA East Region singles rankings and ninth in the East Region doubles rankings along with classmate Bethany Hammond, has posted a career combined record of 50-26 in singles and doubles play, posting a 29-12 singles record, including 16-2 in the NE10 after going 8-2 at No. 1 singles last season, to go with a 21-14 doubles mark, including 11-5 in the NE10. Porter has earned All-NE10 honors three times over her first two years.
Markaryan went 11-0 in NE10 play as a freshman to earn All-NE10 honors (PHOTO BY Lewis Glass/SportsPix) |
Hammond, senior Caroline Ray and sophomores Samantha Ormesher, the NE10 Championships Most Outstanding Player last fall, and Emma Markaryan also earned All-NE10 honors last season for Stonehill. Markaryan was unbeaten in NE10 singles play (10-0) to earn first team honors at No. 5 singles as a freshman, while Ormesher also collected first team honors at No. 3 singles and second team accolades at No. 2 doubles with Vo. Ray rounds out the first team All-NE10 performers from last year at No. 3 doubles with the Skyhawks lone graduate, Nicole Downey, '19.
Rounding out Stonehill's list of returnees is senior captain Annelise Howick, an All-NE10 doubles performer over the course of her career, and classmate Anastasiya Shyianok. Stonehill also welcomes four talented freshmen in Steffi Antao, Laura Jaegerhuber, Lily Peter and Cristina Solorzano Valencia who could all have an impact right away.
Stonehill opens its 2019 fall season with its NE10 opener with New Haven at Watt Courts at 3:30 p.m., marking the first home athletic event of the academic year. The Skyhawks will compete at the USTA/ITA Division II East Regional on September 13-16 at the USTA National Center in Flushing, New York, home of the U.S. Open. Stonehill will host non-conference matches with University of District of Columbia, ranked sixth in the region, on Friday, October 11, at 1 p.m., and then Division I Bryant University on Sunday, October 20.
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