2013-14 Season-In-Review: Women’s Tennis

By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's tennis team opened the 2013-14 season with six consecutive wins. The Eagles finished with an overall 11-6 dual match record and qualified as the No. 4 seed in the Landmark Conference tournament for the second consecutive year. Juniata eventually fell to the three-time-consecutive conference champions from The University of Scranton, but still posted one of the best records in program history.

"The girls had set their goal to win the conference at the beginning of the season and obviously we didn't reach that, but they competed well. All the matches that we lost that were conference were very close and we had a chance to win in all of them," said head coach Jason Cohen.

The Eagles were picked second in the league preseason poll with one first place vote behind the Royals who received four first place votes.

"This year presented us some different challenges from last year. Last season everyone in the conference pick us to finish last so no one in the conference was expecting anything from us when we played them," said Cohen. "This year everyone had a little more respect for us and so they knew it was going to be a much harder match coming into it so they were a little more ready. That was different for us to deal with as a team, but I think we did a pretty good job with it. Overall, they worked hard and won a lot of matches so it was a pretty good season."

After opening the season with six straight wins, Juniata faltered in its first Landmark match to Catholic University of America. The Eagles bounced back in their hope opener against Lycoming College, but continued to struggle dropping the next three matches. With their playoff hopes on the line, the Eagles eared a league win over Susquehanna University and went on the win four of their final five regular season contests.

"The way our conference schedule was set up I know going into it that we were playing the other three good teams in the league first. I knew there was a potential for what happened – that we could lose all three and have to win the other three to have to make the playoffs – but I wasn't too worried about that prospect because I felt that's something the team was capable of overcoming," said Cohen.

Senior Megan Phillips (Jefferson Hill, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) led the team with 16 singles win this season setting a new career-high for herself. She earned Second-Team All-Landmark honors for singles play along with junior Heather Waring (San Antonio, Tx./John Jay). Waring spent the entire season at the No. 1 singles position and posted a much-improved 8-7 record. The pair also earned First-Team all-conference honors in doubles for the second consecutive year.

"Megan dealt with [being the only senior] really well. With the improvement of the girls around her and the improvement of the team she put slightly less pressure on herself because she knew that the team would do well. That was something that hadn't happened before. The fact that she could count on her teammates took the pressure off her and I think that showed in her play this year," said Cohen.

Phillips and Waring earned 11 wins at the No. 1 position with an overall record of 16-8. The pair wasn't the only consistent matchup as sophomores Tori Gray (York, Pa./Central York) and Mitsuki Koh (Cupertino, Calif./Monta Vista) also played all 22 doubles matches together. The duo posted a 13-9 overall record, 10-7 in dual matches, and went 9-6 at the No. 2 position.

"It makes things really easy for me as a coach if I know I have doubles teams that have good chemistry and that I can count on and have experience playing with each other multiple years in a row. That's something that college coaches don't get often," said Cohen. "It's a luxury to have one less things to worry about. You know what they are capable of doing and what they will do together. You know that they will play well and get along. That's not something you can always count on with a doubles team."

Gray earned Landmark Player of the Week honors Sept. 16, 2013 for her performance at the Oberlin Invitational. Sophomore Jacklyn Renninger (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) was also honored as conference player of the week, March 17, 2014, after finishing a 5-0 singles week and going 5-1 in doubles.

Top 5 Moments
Victory on the regional stage
Renninger and freshman Rachel Yurchisin (Cleveland, Ohio/Padua Fransican) teamed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) regional tournament to take part in the B3 doubles draw. The duo claimed four consecutive victories for the first ITA Regional draw victory in Juniata women's tennis history.

"That's the first time we've ever won a draw at regionals," said Cohen. "Only good teams win at regionals. There are no bad teams that you are going to face there. Being able to win four matches on the weekend was a good accomplishment for them."

March 9, 2014: Juniata defeats Westminster 6-3 on first day of Spring Break
The Eagles opened up a five match Spring Break trip to Hilton Head, S.C. with a 6-3 win over powerhouse Westminster College. Juniata went on to win all five matches in the week for a 6-0 start to the year. The Eagles claimed two doubles matches and four singles to snap Westminster's 15-match win streak.

"We won that match 6-3 and we won three singles matches in three sets. We hadn't played them in two years, but that year they beat us 7-2. Their team this year is still playing. They won their conference and made the NCAA tournament. We were their only loss all season. That was a good win for us and a good way to start off the season. That win helped the rest of spring break go well," said Cohen.

 April 8, 2014: Eagles earn first Landmark win, 9-0 of Susquehanna
In a must win game to keep playoff hopes alive, Juniata hosted the Crusaders in a league contest. The Eagles were previously 2-4 against Susquehanna since the foundation of the Landmark and had yet to win against the Crusaders in Huntingdon. Juniata came out with a 9-0 sweep.

"The match against Susquehanna was an important one for the team. Two years ago we lost to them and last year we beat them in a relatively close match. The girls knew we had to win out and I sensed that they put a lot of pressure on themselves before that match even started," said Cohen. "They played really well and won 9-0 and from then on they had the confidence to say we can do this, we can make playoffs. I think that was a pretty good turning point. That was a good gauge to show their improvement from last year."

April 17, 2014: Juniata secures No. 4 playoff seed with win at Goucher
When the Eagles met the Gophers in Towson, Maryland on the final day of the Landmark regular season the winner would come out with a berth to the league tournament. Goucher led the Landmark series 6-2 over Juniata and had only lost to the Eagles in Towson once. The Eagles earned the 5-4 win and a second-consecutive postseason appearance.

"That was the win that got us into the playoffs. It was a 5-4 match, but the five matches that we won we took fairly convincingly and the matches that they won were close. The girls knew what was at stake going into it. Whoever won that match would go to the playoffs. Obviously you can win the conference if you don't match the playoffs. The showed up and responded and played well for that win," said Cohen.

April 24, 2014: Waring caps off season with two wins at No. 1 position vs. Scranton
Juniata drew No. 1 seed Scranton in the first round of the league tournament and Waring came out with two victories on the day. She handed the Royals No. 1 just her third loss of the dual match season.

"Heather played a lot better at No. 1 singles this year. She played a girl in [the Scranton] match that two years ago she lost to in three sets and she beat her quite easily in straight sets this year. That really showed the improvement she's made over the last couple of years," said Cohen.

The 11 total wins for Juniata over the 2013-14 season marked the second highest wins total in program history. The Eagles will graduate Phillips and return the remainder of the roster for the 2014-15 season.

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