Women's tennis continues home stand vs. Towson, Drexel
Posted: 02/17/2012
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh’s women’s tennis team will continue its nine-match season-opening home stand this weekend with a pair of matches against Towson and Drexel. The Mountain Hawks will face Towson on Saturday and Drexel on Sunday. The squad is looking to rebound from a slow start to the season as they come into the matches with a 1-4 record.
Lehigh is coming off a solid weekend as the Mountain Hawks defeated Mount St. Mary’s, 5-2, for their first win of the season. In their last outing, the Mountain Hawks suffered a 7-0 loss to Delaware. The squad was overwhelmed in doubles play as Delaware captured all three matches. A bright spot in the team’s singles play was sophomore Kathleen Larkin. Even though she fell short in her match, she took six games in a 6-3, 6-3 loss.
Freshman Abby Farrell has played well for the team in singles and doubles play, posting a 2-3 overall record in both singles and doubles competition. She heads a solid trio of freshman for the team, with Gabby Drucker and Molly Brooks being the others. All three have held their own thus far and will look to build on that confidence this weekend. Sophomore Jenai Bilimoria has also been solid in singles play (2-3 overall) while the team’s lone senior, Liz Piscitelli, has posted a respectable record in doubles play (2-3 overall) playing alongside Farrell.
Towson will be the fifth team this season to open its spring season against the Mountain Hawks. Last year, the Tigers’ season ended in the first round of the CAA Championship as they suffered a 4-1 loss to Drexel. Lehigh will look to avenge last season’s 7-0 loss to Towson. The teams should be evenly matched in terms of experience. While not as young as the Mountain Hawks, eight of Towson’s eleven players are either freshmen or sophomores.
Drexel comes into the weekend with a 2-1 record. Both of the Dragons wins were 4-0 shutouts. The Dragons lost their last match to George Washington, 5-2. The Mountain Hawks also match up well with the Dragons in experience. More than half of the team’s roster consists of freshman or sophomores. Drexel’s lack of experience has yet to backfire on them this season as showcased in the team’s solid record. The Dragons won the two teams’ last meeting, 6-1, in 2010.
Both of this weekend’s matches will take place inside the Lewis Tennis Center. The match is against Towson will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. and the match against Drexel will start at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Story by Antoine Williams ‘12