Solid Start to NCAC Tournament for Women's Tennis

4/30/2011

Box Score

OBERLIN, Ohio – Saturday afternoon marked the first day of the 2011 NCAC Women's Tennis Tournament held at Oberlin College, and the Allegheny women's tennis team got off to a great start with a 5-1 win over Wittenberg University, ensuring themselves a finish in the top-four of the conference by tournament's end.

The win for the Gators (12-8, 2-4 NCAC) avenged a close late-season loss to the hands of the Tigers (18-6, 3-3 NCAC).

To start the match, the Gators got out to a quick 2-0 lead as they picked up consecutive wins at flights three and one doubles. A closely contested flight two doubles finish would go the way of the Tigers for their first point of the match.

The Gators wasted no time in taking total control of the match, and eventually putting it away, once singles play got under way. Sara Longo made quick work of her opponent at flight three, 6-0, 6-2. Janna Dickerson followed Longo's win with one of her own at flight six, 6-3, 6-2, and put the Gators to within a point to seal the match.

With three other singles matches still being played on court, Deborah Landau clinched the match with her win at flight four, 6-1, 6-4. All three of the Gators singles wins came in straight sets, showing a display of dominance. Further proof of the dominant effort was, at the time of Landau's clincher, the remaining three matches on court had Allegheny players out in front of their respective matches.

The Gators will now have a chance to play their way into the conference finals as they are slated to take on the #1 seed Denison University on Sunday, May 1st. That match is set to begin at 11:00 a.m.

Men's Tennis Ends 2011NCAC Tournament with Fourth-Place Finish

4/30/2011

Box Score

OBERLIN, Ohio – After winning their opening round match a day ago at the 2011 NCAC Tournament against Wittenberg, and losing to Denison a few hours later, the Gators (12-6, 2-1 NCAC East) entered the final day of the tournament matched up against Wabash College to determine who would earn a third-place finish in the tournament. The two teams battled one another closely, particularly in singles play, but Wabash was able to capitalize on an early 3-0 lead though doubles play to take the decision, 5-3, with one match remaining on court.

The Little Giants (18-10, 2-1 NCAC East) were very impressive to start the match as they were able to sweep the three doubles matches with relative ease, pacing them to the big early lead. After taking the first singles decision at flight five, the Little Giants jumped to within a point of taking the match, 4-0.

The Gators, however, showed a lot of resolve, and battled back strong as they rattled off three consecutive singles wins at flights one, four, and six. The first two winning matches for the Gators came in dominating fashion as Patrick Cole at flight one, and Charlie Murphy at flight four, won their respective matches in straight sets. Cole, the reigning NCAC Player of the Week dropped only one game in his singles match.

With the team match at 4-3 in favor of Wabash, the remaining two matches, flights two and three, came down to the wire. Unfortunately for the Gators, Jacob Allmaras' impressive, in-progress match at flight three singles went unfinished as Mike Provenzano's match at flight two reached a decision in favor of the Little Giants, giving them the match-clinching point, and putting a halt to the team match.

The loss ends the Gators season with a fourth-place finish in the NCAC Tournament.

Men's Tennis Positions Themselves in Top of NCAC; Luteran Notches Milestone Win

4/29/2011

Box Scores: Wittenberg -- Denison

OBERLIN, Ohio – Day one of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament produced mixed results for the Allegheny men's tennis team as they came away with head coach, Jared Luteran's 200th career victory in a 5-3 win over Wittenberg in their first match, but were unable to record a decision against Denison in the nightcap on Friday at Oberlin College, the host of the NCAC Tournament. The win, however, in their first match, ensured the Gators (12-5, 2-1 NCAC East) would finish in the top-four of the conference by tournament's end.

The first match of the day for the Gators against Wittenberg was a thrilling match that was not decided until the tail end of the match. With wins at flights one and three doubles, the Gators took a 2-1 lead heading into singles play. Given the tournament atmosphere, the match was played to decision, so the Gators needed three singles wins out of the six potential matches to record the win.

The Tigers would make the match interesting picking up wins in flights three and four to keep themselves within a reasonable distance to try and take away the win and advance in the upper portion of the tournament bracket.

A dominating win by Patrick Cole at flight one , and a big win at flight five by Max Sosa, 6-3, 6-2, put the Gators ahead in the match 4-2 with two matches remaining on court. Flight two singles would be the deciding match. Playing at flight two for the Gators, sophomore Mike Provenzano, dropped a close first set 4-6, but forced a third set with a win in the second set, 6-3. In the decisive third set, Provenzano and his opponent Sergio Fishkin played each other really close, and took that set past the usual six-game decision. Provenzano would come away on top in the match, however, by winning the third set 7-5.

One match, flight six singles, was left on court at the time the Gators wrapped up the team match. The win in their opening match was huge for the Gators as it assured them a top-four finish in the conference tournament. Also noteworthy in the win was the career milestone achieved by head coach Jared Luteran, as he notched his 200th career victory as a head coach.

A 5-0 loss to the hands of Denison in their second match of the day put the Gators in the third-place match against Wabash College on Saturday, April 29th. That match is set to be played at 11:00 a.m.

Cole Serves Up NCAC Player of the Week Honors for Second Time

4/26/2011

Conference Release

CLEVELAND, Ohio – For the second time this season, Allegheny men's tennis rookie Patrick Cole was named the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Player of the Week, this time for the week-ending April 24, 2011, as it was announced by the NCAC's sports information director Bret Billhardt on Monday afternoon.

Cole gets the league's weekly honor for the second time this season after he went undefeated at flight one singles and flight one doubles over the Gators' two conference matches, both wins, against Oberlin and Wooster.

This spring, Cole has stepped into the number one role for singles and doubles play, and has strung together tremendous success at the top of the Gators' lineup going 8-2 in flight one singles play, and 7-3 in flight one doubles play. Through the fall and spring seasons, Cole has notched a 16-4 singles record and a 14-5 doubles record.

Women's Tennis Handles Wooster; Takes Wittenberg to the Brink for Conference Split

4/23/2011

Box Scores: Wittenberg -- Wooster

OBERLIN, Ohio – The Allegheny women's tennis team picked up a split on Saturday afternoon in NCAC play with a nail-biting 5-4 loss to Wittenberg University, but came back in the nightcap to beat the College of Wooster 8-1. Both matches were played at the facilities of Oberlin College.

The first match of the day for the Gators (11-8, 2-4 NCAC) was against Wittenberg, and the team match would come down the final match on court, flight one singles. Coming out of doubles play, the Gators trailed in the match 2-1, but picked up a decision at flight one doubles as Lauren Kristofco and Sara Longo won their match handily, 8-1.

Two of the first three singles matches that were completed went the way of the Tigers, putting them one decision away from the team win. Back-to-back singles wins at flights four and three by Schmitt and Sara Longo knotted the match at four-all, and set up the decisive match remaining on court.

That final match on court was at flight one singles. The Gators Carolyn Shetter had dropped the first set 4-6, but came back in the second set 6-3. With the team match in the balance, Wittenberg's number one Leah Ann Miller bested Shetter in the decisive third set, 6-2, to give the team match to the Tigers.

The women would bounce back in a big way following their disappointing loss to Wittenberg, and took out their frustrations on Wooster to the tune of an 8-1 decision. The lone tally for Wooster came in flight six with the match already decided. In a rarity, the doubles and singles matches all finished in succession according to flight.

The Gators have wrapped up their conference schedule in the regular season and will turn their attention to the NCAC Tournament at the end of the following week. The tournament will be hosted by Oberlin College and is slated to start on April 29th. Before the tournament, however, the women have one more non-conference match scheduled against Grove City College on Tuesday, April 26th. The match, to be held at Grove City will start at 3:30 p.m.

Provenzano Clinches Win over Oberlin

4/23/2011

Box Score

OBERLIN, Ohio – Forced indoors due to the rainy weather throughout the day, the Allegheny men's tennis team clashed with conference foe Oberlin in a four and a half hour marathon match in which the Gators (10-4, 1-1 NCAC East) bested the Yeoman (6-15, 1-2 NCAC East), 7-2 on the road.

Unlike the women's match that took place prior, the men's match was played through to completion. After falling behind in the match 2-1 through doubles play, the Gators rallied with an overwhelmingly strong showing in singles play. By match end, the Gators had taken all six singles matches.

The team match was clinched by sophomore Mike Provenzano at flight two singles. Provenzano dropped the first set 4-6, but forced a decisive third set by winning the second set 7-6. In the tie-breaking third set, Provenzano blanked his opponent for the win and, in turn, clinched the Gators victory with two matched remaining on court.

After the lengthy match against Oberlin, the men will take to the bus once again and travel a short ways to Wooster to take on the Fighting Scots in the final regular season match of the year. The match is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.

Women's Tennis Splits NCAC Matches

4/16/2011

Box Scores: Denison Box -- Ohio Wesleyan Box

GRANVILLE, Ohio – The Allegheny women's tennis team took part in a pair of NCAC matches on Saturday afternoon, and came away with a 1-1 mark dropping their first match against nationally-ranked no. 6 Denison University 8-1, and beating Ohio Wesleyan in the nightcap by the same margin.

The Big Red (13-4, 5-0 NCAC) looked strong as they won all six singles matches in straight sets. Deborah Landau and Elyse Schmitt provided the lone blemish for the Big Red as the pair won at flight three doubles 8-5.

Not long after the match against Denison was over, the Gators got back out on the court to take on Ohio Wesleyan. With rain in the area, the OWU match, like Denison earlier in the day, was played indoors. After doubles play, however, the weather broke, and the courts dried up enough to move the match outdoors for singles play and its conclusion.

The Gators were in control against the Battling Bishops (4-7, 1-3 NCAC) from the outset sweeping all three doubles matches and taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the team match. Not much changed in singles play. Despite the dreary conditions outside, the Gators won five of the six singles matches en route to an 8-1 win.

Against the Bishops, Lauren Kristofco, Landau, and Janna Dickerson all won their singles matches in straight sets and only dropped a single game.

The Gators will wrap up their regular season on the road next weekend with three conference matches on the slate. The first match will be against Oberlin College on Friday, April 22nd starting at 4:30 p.m. The team will remain in Oberlin, Ohio for a pair of matches the following day, Saturday, April 23rd, against Wittenberg University at 10:00 a.m. and the College of Wooster at 2:30 p.m.

Women's Tennis Stuns Case Western with Thrilling Win

4/13/2011

Box Score

MEADVILLE, Pa. – It would take over four hours, and come down to the final match on the courts before a winner emerged from the non-conference clash between Allegheny College and Case Western Reserve University on Wednesday afternoon inside the David V. Wise Center. As the final match on court, Janna Dickerson, at flight six singles, sent the home crowd home happy winning her singles match, 6-1, 7-5, and giving the Gators (9-5, 0-0 NCAC) the upset win over the Spartans (7-6).

Through doubles play to start the team match, the Spartans took a 2-1 lead with wins in flights one and two doubles. Elyse Schmitt and Deborah Landau, in flight three doubles, came away with an 8-4 win.

Singles play was played very close between the two teams as three of the six singles matches went to the decisive 10-point super breakers. Carrying over her momentum from the doubles win, Schmitt, at flight four singles, dropped the first set 3-6, but bounced back for the win in the second set 6-4, and overcame a 7-3 deficit in the 10-point super breaker to win it 10-8, giving the Gators the first win of singles play, and knotting the match two-all.

Back-to-back winning finishes at flights three and two pushed the Spartans back in front 4-2 and put the Gators in must-wins in the remaining matches on court. Faced with a tough test in the regionally-ranked no. 6 singles player Erika Lim, Allegheny rookie Carolyn Shetter, at flight one singles, staved off elimination for the Gators with a straight sets win, 6-4, 7-6(3). It is Shetter's first career win over a regionally-ranked opponent.

A super breaker win by Deborah Landau at flight five singles, 6-4, 6-7(1), 10-7 knotted the match four-all and set up the winner-take all scenario for the final match on court.

With the match in the balance, Dickerson had taken the first set with relative ease 6-1, but the match got very close in the second set. With Dickerson up 5-4 in the second set, and serving at 40-15 for the match, the Spartans' Evelyn Qi rallied to break Dickerson's serve to level the set at 5-5. Dickerson would answer back, breaking Qi's serve to push the match 6-5 in her favor. Dickerson would hold serve and ended the marathon match with her win in flight six singles, 6-1, 7-5.

The Gators will look to ride the momentum of their upset win into the stretch run of their schedule, with the remainder of their scheduled matches all against NCAC opponents. First up in that pivotal stretch is a meeting with Kenyon College on the road this Friday, April 12th. The match is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.

Kristofco/Schmitt Excelling Off the Court!

Lauren Kristofco and Elyse Schmitt are not only having successful careers on the tennis court, but they are also having some unique success in their academic ventures. Lauren was recently chosen to present at the ASLO (American Society of Limnology and Oceanography) Aquatic Sciences meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was an all expense paid trip to present her research that she did over the summer at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography (URI GSO) under Dr. Lucie Maranda. Although it was difficult to give up the beautiful snow in Meadville for a whole week in February, Lauren made some valuable connections with several prominent educators in her field of research.

Elyse Schmitt recently competed in the Gator Innovation Challenge which was hosted by Chris Allison in the Allegheny College Economics department. The competition encouraged students to create a product and write a business plan as well as present their ideas to a panel of judges. Schmitt’s business, Unsoiled Agriculture (name will be changed), took home first place which included a $1,000 cash reward. She then competed in the Northwest PA Business plan competition held in Erie, PA on April 7th. Elyse and her partner competed against 53 other applicants and took home third place and another cash reward to be used as grant money to do more research for her company.

Gator Tennis Players Keeping Kids Healthy!

Janna Dickerson gives some quality tennis instruction

That toss was right on target Kevin Snyder

Elyse Schmitt, Janna Dickerson, Kevin Snyder, and Laura Steele spent their Saturday morning helping kids get acquainted with the game of tennis at the Healthy Kids’ Day Event sponsored by the YMCA. The Gator tennis players spent four hours out in the frigid temps bringing smiles to all the kids’ faces that got a chance to volley with a Gator tennis player!

Seniors Celebrate with 9-0 Victory!

Coach Luteran with the Seniors

Top: Lauren Kristofco and Sara Longo

Bottom: Nick Darrow and Jake Allmaras

It was not only Campus Kids’ Day, but it was also Senior Day for the Gator tennis match v. Thiel on Thursday, April 7th. All the seniors were honored before the match and given personalized Allegheny blankets for their loyalty to the Gator Tennis program. Below is a brief summary of each senior.

Sara Longo is a biology major and a french minor. She has a job with the Watson Institute as an aid for autistic children, but she plans to go to physician assistant school after working for a year. She is co-captain and has 28 singles wins and 37 doubles wins. Sara also has two all conference doubles awards and one all conference singles award.

Nick Darrow is an environmental science major and a psychology minor. He has a job this summer working for the Student Conservation Association in Pittsburgh. After that, he plans to pursue a career in environmental science in the Pittsburgh area. He is co-captain and has 5 singles wins and 3 doubles wins.

Jake Allmaras is an economics major and a spanish minor. He will be finishing school in the fall and plans to pursue a career in the investment banking business. He is co-captain and has 27 singles wins and 32 doubles wins.

Lauren Kristofco is a double major in biology and Spanish. She will be going to grad school for environmental toxicology to pursue a masters and plans to eventually get her PHD. She has 32 singles wins and 32 doubles wins. Lauren is a two time ITA scholar athlete, 3 time all conference award winner in singles, and 2 time all conference award winner in doubles.

Another Fun USTA /Allegheny Campus Kids’ Day!

The Allegheny College tennis team hosted their annual USTA Campus Kids’ Day on Thursday, April 7^th and it was another great success. It certainly helped that it was the first beautiful day of the spring tennis season. Andy Findlay from the USTA put on a fantastic clinic for the kids after they got to be a part of the pre-match introductions and the team huddle. Chompers, the college mascot, also took part in the fun—including the pre-clinic warm up jog! All the kids in attendance got free pizza and great prizes courtesy of the USTA. The Gators topped off the day with both teams beating Thiel College 9-0.