Tuesday, October 8, 2002

MORAVIAN WOMEN’S TENNIS TO HOST MAC SEMIFINAL

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College women’s tennis team looks to extend its winning streak to 36 straight matches and take its first step towards a third straight Middle Atlantic Conference Championship as the Greyhounds host Lycoming College in a MAC Semifinal Wednesday, October 9th at 2:00 p.m. at Hoffman Courts in Bethlehem. Wednesday's other semifinal contest has Messiah College traveling to FDU-Florham for a 12:30 p.m. start.

Moravian, which has won five of the last six MAC Championships, is competing in its ninth straight playoff appearance and the squad has the top seed in MAC playoffs. Should Moravian win Wednesday’s semifinal, the Greyhounds will host the 2002 MAC Championship match on Saturday, October 12th beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Under the direction of head coach Dawn Benner, the Greyhounds' last loss overall and MAC Commonwealth action was to Messiah College on September 30, 2000 by a score of 7-2. Moravian currently has a 17 match MAC Commonwealth winning streak. Moravian's longest winning streak in school history is 46 consecutive matches from 1997 until 1999.

Junior Lauren Castagna (Mt. Bethel, PA/Bangor HS) leads the Greyhounds in singles action this season, having posted a record of 13-2. Junior Marion Berry (Avon, NJ/Avon HS) is 12-0 on the year while sophomore Becky Deringer (Allentown, PA/Dieruff HS) is 10-5. Senior Jennifer Genevese (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS) is 11-3 on the year and needs just one victory to reach 50 singles wins for her career.

Other singles winners for Moravian include six victories from freshman Nicole Gruber (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon HS), five wins from junior Petia Damianova (Haskovo, Bulgaria/ISM HS), two victories from senior Missy Graeff (Reading, PA/Schuylkill Valley HS) and one each by senior Jillian Simms (Hampton, NJ/Voorhees HS), sophomore Jillian Iacovelli (Randolph, NJ/Randolph HS) and freshman Katie Cooke (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley HS).

In doubles action, the duo of Genevese and Deringer is 13-1 while the team of Berry and Iacovelli has a 10-2 record. Senior Lea Ziegler (Schwenksville, PA/Spring-Ford HS) has eight doubles wins on the year including three with Castagna and two with Simms. Castagna also has one double victory with Iacovelli and one with Simms. The team of sophomore Julie Anderson (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) and freshman Rachel Vannatta (Pennsburg, PA/Upper Perkiomen HS) has posted two victories in four matches.

Lycoming comes to Bethlehem with an overall record of 7-2 and a 5-1 slate in the MAC Freedom. The Warriors ended the MAC Freedom season in a three-way tie for first place with FDU-Florham and the University of Scranton. FDU-Florham earned the top spot on the tiebreaker while Lycoming got the second playoff spot. The Warriors defeated Wilkes University, 8-1 in their last match.

Senior Meredith Moerschbacher leads Lycoming with a singles record of 8-0 while senior Cricket Temple is 8-1 on the season. Junior Heidi von Schwedler has a 7-1 singles mark while freshman Josemar Castillo has posted a 7-2 mark. Sophomore Lauren Pilgermayer has contributed two singles wins while senior Amy Ramaley and junior Erin Mastrontonio each have one singles victory this fall.

In doubles action, the team of Temple and Moerschbacher leads the Warriors with an 8-0 record while the tandem of von Schwedler and Castillo is 7-1. Temple has one victory with Ramaley this season.