BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women’s tennis team is preparing to hit the road for their spring break trip to Florida for two matches. The Mountain Hawks will start their trip in Melbourne, Fla. on Monday March 11 for a match against Florida Tech before heading to Daytona Beach for an afternoon match against Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday, March 13.
The Mountain Hawks, 2-7 on the season, suffered their second straight setback on Sunday when they fell to Temple by a score of 7-0 in the final match of their eight match home stand. The Owls won all three doubles matches and swept six singles matches in straight sets. Lehigh also fell to Towson on Saturday by a 6-1 score with freshman Ali Kaminetsky earning the Mountain Hawks’ lone point with a win at No. 3 singles. The Mountain Hawks will look to junior Jenai Bilimoria and sophomore Abby Farrell to lead the way in Florida. The duo owns a respectable 4-5 record as Lehigh’s number one doubles pair and they also occupy the top two singles spots in the Mountain Hawks singles lineup.
Lehigh’s first opponent, Florida Tech, will take to the courts hot off of a five match win streak. Florida Tech is 8-3 overall and is ranked No. 16 nationally at the Divison II level. The Panthers will play two matches before facing Lehigh, against Newberry on March 7 and Michigan Tech on March 9.
The Mountain Hawks second opponent, Bethune-Cookman, is 7-5 on the season but the Wildcats will face a busy schedule before Lehigh comes to town. The Wildcats will play five more matches before squaring off against Lehigh, taking on the likes of South Dakota, St. Thomas, ASA College, Robert Morris, and Northern Kentucky.
Lehigh’s match at Florida Tech is set for 2 p.m. on Monday, March 11, while the match at Bethune-Cookman will begin at 3 p.m. on March 13.
Story by Taylor Boyd ‘13