Mountain Hawks head to Army for Eastern Tennis Championships
Posted: 09/23/2011 | Last updated: September 23, 2011 at 05:02 PM
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women’s tennis team opens its fall slate this weekend at the Eastern Tennis Championships, hosted by Army at West Point, N.Y. The Mountain Hawks will be one of 20 teams competing in the three day event, which takes place on Army’s Malek Tennis Courts and inside the Lichtenberg Tennis Center.
Head coach Dave Shook enters his 16th season with a young squad with a total of seven freshmen and sophomores on the roster. Two of those sophomores, Taylor Hampshire and Jenai Bilimoria, will serve as captains for the 2011-12 season. Hampshire and Bilimoria were Lehigh’s top two singles players and teamed up to comprise the Mountain Hawks’ top doubles team last spring. Hampshire earned second-team All-Patriot League honors for her efforts.
Liz Piscitelli returns as the Mountain Hawks’ lone senior, while Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year Patricia Muething and Abbey Perl comprise the junior class.
Hampshire and Bilimoria are joined in the sophomore class by Kathleen Larkin and Jill Sloand. The Mountain Hawks also welcome a trio of talented freshmen in Molly Brooks, Gabby Drucker and Abigail Farrell.
The Mountain Hawks’ fall schedule consists of this weekend’s tournament at Army and the Lehigh Invitational, March 14-16 on the Goodman Campus. Lehigh welcomes Delaware, Lafayette, Loyola (Md.) and St. Francis (Pa.) for action on that weekend.
Action at the Eastern Tennis Championships begins Friday morning with doubles play and will run through the end of singles draws Sunday afternoon.