Mountain Hawks ready to face Colgate in Patriot League Quarterfinals
Posted: 04/21/2011
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women’s tennis team has earned the No. 4 seed in this weekend’s upcoming Patriot League tournament in Annapolis, Md., as the league announced the seeds and tournament schedule late Wednesday afternoon. Lehigh is scheduled to take on No. 5 Colgate in the third and final quarterfinal match Friday afternoon.
The Mountain Hawks finished their regular season with a 6-12 overall record and went 3-3 in the Patriot League. Lehigh closed out the regular season with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Lafayette behind a strong doubles performance. The rivals split singles matches, but the Mountain Hawks were able to sweep the doubles matches to come away with the win. Colgate enters the tournament with a 1-4 record in league play. The two teams met during the regular season on April 9, and the Mountain Hawks earned the 4-2 decision in Hamilton, N.Y. The Raiders are 4-13 overall this spring.
Lehigh will be looking to avenge a 4-1 loss to Colgate in the opening round of last year’s tournament. It marked the first time in seven years that the Mountain Hawks did not advance to the semifinals. Three Mountain Hawks competed against the Raiders in the 2010 tournament and with the addition of several key freshmen Lehigh is in the running to advance.
Freshman Taylor Hampshire gained experience at the first singles position all season, and joins classmate Jenai Bilimoria. Junior Liz Piscitelli and sophomores Patricia Muething and Abbey Perl bring a wealth of experience to the middle of Lehigh’s lineup. The Mountain Hawks also have freshman Kathleen Larkin at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles. Larkin leads Lehigh with seven singles wins, and has teamed with classmate Jill Sloand to go 7-6 at third doubles.
The Patriot League Championships will kick off Friday at 10 a.m. when host and No. 2 seed Navy meets No. 7 seed Holy Cross. No. 3 seed Bucknell will meet No. 6 Lafayette at 1 p.m., followed by the Lehigh-Colgate battle at 3 p.m.
The winner of the Lehigh-Colgate matchup will face top seed Army in Saturday’s second semifinal at 2 p.m. The Black Knights received a first round bye after going a perfect 5-0 in the Patriot League. The first semi-final is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and will feature the victor of the Bucknell-Lafayette and Navy-Holy Cross matchups. The championship match will be played on Easter Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Patriot League Championships begin Friday at the Tose Family Tennis Center located at the Brigade Sports Complex in Annapolis, Md. In case of inclement weather, the matches will be moved indoors at the Tose Family Tennis Center.