2011 Seniors Graduate

May 14, 2011

Senior tennis players Nick Darrow, Margaret Hodgkiss-Lilly, Lauren Kristofco, and Sara Longo graduated on Saturday with the rest of the class of 2011 in the Wise Center. Congrats seniors and good luck!!!

Five Women's Tennis Players Net All-NCAC Honors

5/10/2011

Conference Release

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Posting the highest single-season winning percentage (.591) since the 2001-02 season, the Allegheny women's tennis team enjoyed an eight-win turnaround from a year ago, a third-place finish in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) for the first time since the 1998-99 season, and earned their first regional ranking under head coach Jared Luteran. In light of the successful year, a program-first came out of the selection of All-NCAC teams as five women's tennis players earned All-NCAC recognition.

Three players, headlined by rookie Carolyn Shetter, were named to All-NCAC teams as singles players, while a pair of doubles teams garnered All-NCAC selections, including first-time doubles recipients Deborah Landau and Elyse Schmitt.

Shetter, who played at flight one singles throughout the entire fall and spring seasons, was selected to the All-NCAC First Team, and becomes the sixth women's tennis player to make the First Team. On the year, Shetter finished 12-10 in singles play with a 10-10 mark in dual matches, and was a perfect 2-0 in tournament play.

Senior Lauren Kristofco earned her fourth All-NCAC honor as a singles player, making her the first four-time All-NCAC singles performer in Allegheny women's tennis history. This year, Kristofco was named to the All-NCAC Second Team after finishing 5-7 in flight two singles play, and was 2-3 in conference play as well.

Rounding out singles honors is senior Sara Longo. Longo makes her second consecutive All-NCAC Honorable Mention Team after playing most of the year at flight three singles, and posting an overall record of 11-11. In her time at flight three singles, Longo compiled a record of 8-6, and ended the season on a four-match winning streak.

For the third time in the past four years, Kristofco and Longo earn all-conference recognition as a doubles paring. In 07-08, and 08-09, the pair landed on the All-NCAC Doubles Second Team. This season, the final one at Allegheny for both, they were named to the All-NCAC Doubles First Team. Paired up the entire spring season at flight one doubles, Kristofco and Longo tallied a doubles record of 11-5 overall, and were 4-2 in conference play.

Landau and Schmitt were named to the All-NCAC Doubles Second Team for the first time as a pairing after they competed across flights two and three in doubles play this season, and put together an impressive 10-3 overall mark. Like Kristofco and Longo, Landau and Schmitt were 4-2 in conference play.

Rookie Patrick Cole Named NCAC Men's Tennis Newcomer of the Year; Headlines Trio of All-NCAC Honorees

5/10/2011

Conference Release

CLEVLAND, Ohio – Allegheny rookie men's tennis player Patrick Cole turned in one of the best single-season efforts in team history, and his banner first-year was rewarded in a major way by the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) as he became the first Allegheny player, male or female, to also be named the NCAC Newcomer of the Year, and in the process was also named to the All-NCAC First Team. It is the fourth consecutive year that a Gator has made the First Team.

Cole, who assumed the role of the flight one singles player in the spring, came on with an absolute fury, going 10-2 in dual match flight one singles play. Coupled with his 4-1 singles record from the fall when he competed in flight four, Cole ended his rookie campaign with an impressive total record (including tournament play) of 18-4. His 18 wins as a singles competitor are three shy of the single-season record for wins. During the course of the spring, the Livonia, Mich. native also became the first player, male or female, to be named NCAC Player of the Week; he did so twice.

Earning All-NCAC Honorable Mention recognition were senior Jacob Allmaras and sophomore Mike Provenzano. For Allmaras, a senior captain, it is the first all-conference honor in his career as he set a career-high with 12 singles wins across flights two, three, and five.

An All-NCAC Honorable Mention selection a year ago as a rookie, Provenzano lands on the Honorable Mention Team for the second consecutive season. Playing at flight two singles this spring, Provenzano notched a 6-5 overall record, and was 2-1 in conference play.

Allmaras and Cole also hauled in All-NCAC Second Team honors in doubles play. The duo competed in flight one doubles and came away with an 8-5 record, including a 2-1 mark in conference play.

Women's Tennis Outlasts Oberlin for Third-Place in Epic Duel of NCAC Tournament

5/2/2011

Box Scores: Denison -- Oberlin

OBERLIN, Ohio – For the first time since the 1998-99 season, the Allegheny women's tennis team earned a third-place finish at the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament. A victory in their opening match against Wittenberg University on Saturday ensured that the Gators (13-9, 2-4 NCAC) would finish in the top-four for the fourth consecutive year. On Sunday, the Gators dropped their first match of the day to nationally-ranked Denison University, 5-0, placing them in the third-place match against a familiar foe in Oberlin College for the fourth consecutive year as well.

The match against Oberlin for third-place in the conference began just after 5:00 p.m., and it was not until nearly five full hours until the match was decided.

Playing doubles on outdoor courts, the Gators jumped out to a big lead through the opening doubles play as they swept all three matches. Needing just two wins out of the remaining six singles matches, rain forced the completion of the match to be moved indoors.

The change of venue for singles play would be when Oberlin would make their run as they rattled off four straight-sets wins to eventually knot the match at four-all, and set up the thrilling decisive match.

Prior to the final match, at flight three singles, Sara Longo notched one of the two victories the Gators needed to clinch the match. Longo's win was a complete role reversal after she lost in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1, to the same opponent, Preeya Shah, a little over a week ago. This time, Longo endured a tough set one loss that had to be decided in a tie-breaker, 6-7 (11-13), but rallied to take the second and third sets with relative ease, 6-2, 6-0 for the win.

Charged with the enormity of the situation, and having to battle the home-court advantage in favor of Oberlin, the fate of the match would come down to junior Elyse Schmitt at flight five singles. Despite it all, Schmitt was not rattled by the situation from the outset. She took a closely contested first set 6-4, but fell in the possible close-out second set 1-6, pushing not only the singles match, but the entire team match to the brink.

In that decisive third set, Schmitt found herself down at one point 5-3, and in danger of losing the match. Determined not to let that happen, Schmitt upped her level of play, roaring back in the third set to take the next four games to win the third set, 7-5, and clinch the match for the Gators.

The win itself, but particularly against Oberlin, is a monumental one in the growth of the up and coming women's tennis program. This year alone, they have had an eight-win turnaround from a year ago, and for the first time in the past three years, the Gators came out on top of Oberlin in the NCAC Tournament.