Wednesday, February 9
Davidson, N.C.
5:00 p.m.
Davidson College
vs
No. 66 Winthrop
Seniors Samantha Galainena and Allison Rauh along with head coach Caroline Price
Davidson Looks To Keep Winning Tradition Rolling in 2011
1/11/2011 2:26:28 PM | Women's Tennis
Gavin McFarlin -- Assistant SID
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Having registered 23 years of records of .500 or better, the Davidson women's tennis team will seek a 24th year in 2011 when they open the season with five straight home matches, starting Saturday, Jan. 22 against Gardner-Webb and North Carolina A&T.
The Wildcats will also be hunting for their first Southern Conference league title after going 7-3 a season ago vs. the SoCon and making the tournament.
All five home matches are against non-conference foes and will have the Wildcats playing on their home courts until Feb. 3.
In anticipation of the 2010 season, below is a look at the Season Preview....
Now in her 29th season at the helm, head coach Caroline Price will enter the 2011 campaign in solid position to help the program capture its first Southern Conference tournament title after finishing runner-up three times in the last six years.
The Wildcats look to make it nine of the last 10 years with a winning mark after concluding the 2010 slate with a 15-8 mark overall and 7-3 in SoCon play. It was the ninth straight season the Wildcats reached double digits in wins. Of coach Price's 28 seasons, the Wildcats have finished at or above .500 in 23 of them.
This year's club will feature the return of seven letterwinners from a season ago, including senior Samantha Galainena who went a team-best 16-5 in singles with an 8-2 league record. Of the seven returners, six of them saw action in both singles and doubles play.
Singles
After finishing with 72 singles wins in 2009, Davidson topped that by 11, going 83-52 in 2010. The 'Cats had a very impressive 37-24 record vs. SoCon foes a year ago, with four players finishing with a winning mark in league matches.
• Senior #Samantha Galainena#: Tallied a career-best 16 singles wins in third year, going 16-5 ... had an 8-2 mark vs. SoCon opponents ... went 10-4 (6-2 SoCon) at No. 6 singles ... rattled off a nine-match win streak to finish year ... also saw action at No. 4 and 5 singles, going 6-1.
• Senior Alison Rauh: One of six Wildcats to hit the double-digit mark in singles wins with 11 ... played at No. 1 through 4 positions ... picked up six of those wins vs. league foes ... opened season winning four of first five matches.
• Junior Katharine Dicconson: As sophomore, played in five matches ... had a 4-1 record ... won first career SoCon match, 6-0, 6-1 vs. Western Carolina at No. 6.
• Junior Romina Clemente: A doubles specialist as a freshman, worked way into starting lineup for three matches ... scored first collegiate singles win over North Carolina A&T ... went on to pick up one more singles win ... played at No. 5 and 6 singles spots.
• Junior Stephani Synn: Came back strong after missing all of freshman year ... went 15-3 overall in singles, including a team-best tying 8-1 vs. SoCon ... was a perfect 6-0 at No. 5 and 6 slots ... went 7-1 at No. 3 ... rattled off seven straight singles wins to start season and also had a five-match win streak afterwards ... had the second-best winning percentage in the league with 15-3 singles record ... had best winning percentage in SoCon at No. 3.
• Sophomore Catherine Wood: Played in one singles match as a freshman last year ... scored a straight-set 6-0, 6-0 win vs. Case Western Reserve ... will add depth to the Wildcat lineup.
Newcomer
The Wildcats welcome five freshmen for the 2011 season.
• Freshman Frizzi Bschorer: Comes to Davidson from Germany ... reached a high ranking of 477th in the ITF Juniors ... closed the Fall season by tying for first in singles flight at Davidson Fall Classic II.
• Freshman Nisha Crouser: Played No. 1 singles at The Wellington School in Columbus, Ohio during four-year prep career ... earned Ohio All-State honors in 2008 ... was a district champion in 2008 ... state qualifier, 2006 ... opened first collegiate Fall season by leading Davidson with 10 points at the Davidson Fall Classic.
• Freshman Elise Held: A four-year section and district winner at Vincentian Academy in Butler, Pa. ... competed in three of the four Wildcat Fall events.
• Freshman Tamara Hill: A conference player of the year at East Chapel Hill High ... earned 4-A All-State honors ... had a strong finish in singles at CofC Invitational by taking home the consolation bracket title for B2.
• Freshman Brites Moniz-Soares: A native of Portugal ... had a nice first Fall season ... in final Fall event, Davidson Fall Classic II, tied for first in singles flight ... won the flight 'G' singles bracket with a 3-0 mark at the Virginia Tech Hokie Fall Invite.
Doubles
Davidson's doubles teams finished the 2010 season with a combined 31-37 mark and closed out at 16-14 in SoCon matches.
• No. 1 position: The Wildcats will be looking to replace its No. 1 team after the graduation of Virginia Berry and Teresa Wang ... that duo went 12-9 overall and 6-3 vs. the league ... they won four of their first six matches ... Davidson was 12-11 overall at the No. 1 spot.
• No. 2 position: The Wildcats No. 2 doubles team returns intact with Rauh and Synn ... the pair were second on the team with 11 doubles wins ... they had a team-best 7-3 mark vs. the SoCon ... the duo closed the season winning four of last six matches ... four other Wildcat teams were paired at the No. 2 spot ... overall, the 'Cats had 12 wins going 12-11.
• No. 3 position: Half of the No. 3 team returns as Galainena will be looking for a new partner ... Galainena teamed with recently graduated Ali Gores for five doubles wins ... Galainena also teamed with Dicconson at the No. 3 spot for a 2-4 record ... the 'Cats finished just 7-16 at the No. 3 spot (3-7 vs. SoCon).
The Schedule
Davidson will open the season with seven straight home matches, starting on Jan. 16 against nationally ranked Winthrop, which is No. 65 in the latest women's Intercollegiate Tennis Association top-75 poll. Also visiting the Covington Tennis Courts will be Gardner-Webb, North Carolina A&T, Radford, UNC Asheville and East Carolina along with Liberty. The 'Cats went 3-1 against four of those teams a year ago. They have yet to drop a match against UNC Asheville, holding a 6-0 record in the all-time series.
Besides those four non-conference teams, the Wildcats' non-conference schedule will also include USC-Upstate and cross-county rival Charlotte, which they defeated 4-3 a year ago. Davidson will also make a trip to the Notheast for matches vs. Brown and Boston, Feb. 12 and 13.
The Wildcats will open SoCon play at home against Georgia Southern, Mar. 12. They defeated the Eagles, 6-1, last season and are 18-5 all-time in the series. Half of the Wildcats league matches will be at home. From Apr. 5-10, Davidson will be on the road for its longest stretch of the season.
Davidson has finished with at least seven wins against SoCon-foes in seven of the last eight years.
The SoCon Tournament takes place April 20-23 in Chattanooga, Tenn. This year's tournament returns to the eight-team format.
Davidson and the rest of the field will be looking once again to knock off Furman, which has taken 10 of the past 13 tournament titles. College of Charleston, ranked No. 69 to start the year, captured last season's tournament title for the second year in a row. The Wildcats have reached the finals three times in the past six season, but have yet to bring home the tournament title.
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