Women’s Tennis Hosts Penn State Altoona After Solid Showing at ITAs
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women’s tennis team will host Penn State Altoona, this Thursday, Sept. 24, at 4:30 p.m. in the Eagles only home match of the fall 2013 season. The match was originally schedule for Wednesday Sept. 11, but was postponed due to a thunderstorm.
By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: JD Cavrich
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's tennis team will host Penn State Altoona, this Thursday, Sept. 24, at 4:30 p.m. in the Eagles only home match of the fall 2013 season. The match was originally schedule for Wednesday Sept. 11, but was postponed due to a thunderstorm.
"I want to get everyone some time," said head coach Jason Cohen. "Get some of the freshmen who didn't go in these earlier two tournaments some playing time. Get them some experience and understanding of what it's like to play a college tennis match. It's quite different than even high school tennis or junior tennis that is very individually based. It'll be good for everyone to get out there and get into the college tennis environment. The fall is a time where people can show me what they did over the summer and what they've done this fall."
The matchup this Thursday is the first meeting between the two programs since Juniata joined the Landmark Conference in 2007. The Eagles finished last season 13-6 overall and 3-3 in conference action – a noticeable improvement from the 2011-12 season. Juniata qualified for the Landmark tournament for the first time since 2009 and for just the third time in program history. The Eagles are returning all nine members of the 2012-13 squad and adding four new players to the lineup.
Penn State Altoona currently sits at 5-3 overall and 4-2 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) play. The Lady Lions opened the 2013 season with a 7-2 win over Waynesburg University at home. Five of the six Penn State Altoona singles players won their matches as well as two of the three doubles teams. Most recently, the Lady Lions faced down AMCC opponent LaRoche College and earned the clean sweep 9-0. Cassie Yatcilla leads the Lady Lions at 5-3 in singles play and 6-2 in doubles with two different pairings.
Last weekend Juniata traveled to Fredericksburg, Va. to take part in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast Regional Championships. After the first day of play, inclement weather forced the tournament indoors onto a reduced number of courts. Senior Megan Phillips (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) dropped a heartbreaking opening match of singles play so Brook Byrd of Christopher Newport 7-6 (4-0), 3-6, 11-9. But Phillips rallied for three straight wins on Sunday, defeating Victoria Coffee of Hollins University 8-3 in the consolation finals.
"We did pretty well," said Cohen. "We definitely played a lot better on Sunday than we did on Saturday that's for sure. Saturday, with the rain in the afternoon, caused a lot of problems. It also caused us to have to play a lot on Sunday. It shows that they are in good shape. I think Megan played seven matches on Sunday. Even though they were shortened to pro-sets that's still a lot of tennis."
In the Blue 6 singles draw, sophomore Mitsuki Koh (Cupertino, Calif./Monta Vista) bounced back from a first round loss to win her consolation draw 8-6 over Julie Becker of Grove City College.
In doubles play, freshman Rachel Yurchisin (Cleveland, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) and sophomore Jacklyn Renninger (Manheim, Pa./Manheim) defeated Linsey Gabris and Samantha Munze of Methodist College 8-3 to win the Blue 3 draw.
"[Rachel] and Jackie teamed up pretty well and played some good doubles," said Cohen, "They beat some teams they were supposed to, in the early rounds, and then their last match was pretty close. They held serve almost every time which is something that doesn't happen a lot in women's tennis so that was interesting to see it go all the way to a tie breaker. They played some pretty good points there in the end."
The 2012 First-Team All-Landmark Conference pairing of Phillips and junior Heather Waring (San Antonio, Texas/John Jay) bounced back after an early loss to take the consolation finals of the Blue 1 draw over Michaela Dowd and Ashley Price of Mary Washington University 8-5.
"I was most pleased with some of the doubles play," added Cohen. "We won the B3 draw and Megan and Heather did will in the B1 consolation beating some pretty good team. Their three wins in the consolation were against Swarthmore, Dickinson, and Mary Washington all teams that are very good. It wasn't easy competition, but they played pretty well.
Juniata Results – ITA Southeast Regional Championships, Sept. 21-23 at Fredericksburg, Va.
Singles
Blue 1
16 Amanda Soo Ping Chow (Johns Hopkins) def. Heather Waring (Juniata) 6-2. 6-2
c1 Anna Richman (Mary Washington) def. Heather Waring (Juniata) 8-4
Blue 2
16 Rachael Yurchisin (Juniata) def. Jessica Liu (Haverford) 6-2, 6-1
qf Claudia Lohn (Salisbury) def. Rachel Yurcisin (Juniata) 8-3
Blue 3
16 Brook Byrd (Christopher Newport) def. Megan Phillips (Juniata) 7-6 (4-0), 3-6, 11-9
c1 Megan Phillips (Juniata) def. Samantha Babo (Salisbury) 8-1
csf Megan Phillips (Juniata) def. Kristen Cianci (Goucher) 8-1
cf Megan Phillips (Juniata) def. Victoria Coffee (Hollins) 8-3
Blue 4
16 Claire Stoner (Dickinson) def. Tori Gray (Juniata) 6-0, 6-0
c1 Melissa Tomlin (Randolph-Macon) def. Tori Gray (Juniata) 8-3
Blue 5
16 Charlotte Urian (Salisbury) def. Jackyln Renninger (Juniata) 6-2, 6-2
c1 Jacklyn Renninger (Juniata) def. Emily Evans (Washington (Md.)) 8-0
csf Taylor Helsel (Elizabethtown) def. Jacklyn Renninger (Juniata) 9-8 (5-0)
Blue 6
16 Stephanie Hunter (Methodist) def. Mitsuki Koh (Juniata) 6-2, 6-2
c1 Mitsuki Koh (Juniata) def. Monica Benitez (Washington (Ms.)) 8-0
csf Mitsuki Koh (Juniata) def. Hanora Barron (Goucher) 8-1
cf Mitsuki Koh (Juniata) def. Julie Becker (Grove City) 8-6
Doubles
Blue 1
qf A. Lut/K. Youlios (Salisbury) def. Megan Phiilips/Heather Waring (Juniata) 9-8, 7-6 (4-0)
cqf Megan Phillips/Heather Waring (Juniata) def. A. Schmidt/A. Wong (Swarthmore) 8-3
csf Megan Phillips/Heather Waring (Juniata) def. S. Diamond/C. Stoner (Dickinson) 8-3
cf Megan Phillips/Heather Waring (Juniata) def. M. Dowd/A. Price (Mary Washington) 8-5
Blue 2
16 Tori Gray/Mitsuki Koh (Juniat) def. H. Barron/R. Derham (Goucher) 8-4
qf K. McDonough/A. Soo Ping Chow (Johns Hopkins) def. Tory Gray/Mitsuki Koh (Juniata) 8+3
Blue 3
16 Jacklyn Renninger/Rachael Yurchisin (Juniata) def. M. Knapp/C. Urian (Salisbury) 8-2
qf Jacklyn Renninger/Rachael Yurchisin (Juniata) def. J. Becker/L. White (Grove City) 8-3
sf Jacklyn Renninger/Rachael Yurchisin (Juniata) def. E. Barker/L. Dey (Roanoke) 8-4
f Jacklyn Renninger/Rachael Yurchisin (Juniata) def. L. Gabris/S. Munze (Methodist) 9-7 (5-0)
For the complete tournament bracket, click here.
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