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.