MEADVILLE, Pa -- Hoping to carry the momentum from an immensely successful fall, the Allegheny women's tennis squad looks to the impending spring season as an avenue to reassert their standing in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
The Gators kicked off the fall by winning the Nancy J. Heath Invitational on Sept. 7, sweeping Baldwin Wallace, 9-0, in their first round matchup before upending NCAA Division II member Edinboro, 6-3, to win the championship. Allegheny would start the season on a three-match winning streak, adding a 9-0 sweep over Grove City on Sept. 17 before dropping its first match of the 2013-14 campaign to Division II Mercyhurst. The Gators would end the fall with a 4-1 record, upending John Carroll, 7-2, to close out their fall match schedule.
"We had a great fall season and our only loss was to a Div. II school.," commented Allegheny head coach Jared Luteran. "We have a good mix of veterans and young players in the line-up and I was very pleased with how they performed in the fall."
Sophomore Sun Mo Koo posted a 3-1 record in second flight singles, looking to lead the Gators into the spring as a catalyst in singles play. Koo ended the fall with a 5-2 overall record, adding a pair of wins in tournament play. Fellow second year Andrea Brush and senior Laura Steele each grabbed a team-high seven wins during the fall as both players finished the early season 7-1, with a 3-0 tournament mark. Freshman Haley Meekhof opened her collegiate career with a 4-4 record in the fall, including three wins at fourth-flight singles.
"I think Sun Mo Koo is going to surprise a lot of people at the top of the line up," added Luteran. "She is playing some great tennis right now in practice and I think she will have a great year as long as she keeps staying relaxed on the court and swinging freely."
Koo and Meekhof finished the all with an unblemished, 5-0 record, picking up three tournament wins and a pair of wins at second-flight doubles. Allegheny combined for an impressive 20-9 overall doubles record with a 12-3 mark in dual meet doubles matches.
"Doubles is a big question mark for us right now. We have a few injuries so there will be some new teams, but once again I think the returners will help the younger players get acclimated quickly to doubles. "
The Gators kick off the spring 2014 season on Saturday, Feb. 15 against Denison in Erie, Pa. After battling Division II Slippery Rock on Feb. 28 and Case Western Reserve on Mar. 1, Allegheny will hit the road to Hilton Head, S.C. for the squad's annual spring break trip. The Gators will close out the spring with six home matches, including four matches in four days from Apr. 8-12, before heading to the NCAC Tournament in Granville, Ohio on Feb. 25.
"We are pumped to play Denison so early in the season this February and we are also playing some other great teams this spring that we haven't played in a long time--including Div. II Slippery Rock. Our ultimate goal is to improve our results at the NCAC tournament, but we have a few months before we have to start thinking about that. It is a marathon; not a sprint."
