Trinity Women's Tennis Opens New Season At ITA Regional Championships
Hartford, Conn. - The Trinity College women's tennis team is excited to begin the 2009-10 season, as seven veterans return from last year's 12-6 squad. In 2008-09, under the direction of Head Coach Wendy Bartlett (26th Season), the Bantams posted their third consecutive winning record since 2001-02, while competing against some of the toughest teams in the region and qualified for the post-season for the second time in the last three years. Trinity returns three top players from last spring, including senior captain Olivia Merns (New York, N.Y.) and juniors Arielle Leben (New York, N.Y.) and Jillian Steckloff (Framingham, Mass.), forming a solid nucleus eager to contend for the post-season once again. Trinity will open the season on Friday, September 18 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III New England Regional Championships, a three-day tournament which will be held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Merns has a 24-11 career singles record including a 12-5 mark last season, while Leben and Steckloff combined for a 20-20 singles mark between them and were 11-9 playing together in doubles in 2008-09. Juniors Elizabeth Ortiz (Pasadena, Calif.) and Sky Livingston (Nahant, Mass.) have improved steadily in their first two seasons, and the two will compete with senior Kristina Pappas (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and sophomore Kelsey Semrod (Princeton, N.J.) and several solid freshman prospects for the remaining positions in the varsity lineup.
With championship tournaments in the fall and the spring semesters, the tennis season at Trinity is truly an exciting one. The Bantams will play an abbreviated fall schedule and a full slate of matches in the spring, including their spring break trip to warmer climate in March, as they prepare for the NESCAC Championships in late April and the NCAA Tournament in May.
