No. 71 Women's Tennis Set To Defend Two-Straight A-10 Titles
04/19/2006 | Women's Tennis
April 19, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - After capturing the Atlantic 10 title in three of the last four years of league competition, the No. 71 University of Richmond women's tennis team will now be going for its third consecutive conference championship this weekend, April 21-23 at the Club 4 Life in Monroeville, PA.
Led by three-time A-10 Coach of the Year Mark Wesselink, the Spiders have journeyed past several top-ranked opponents to conclude the regular season 11-7 overall and 3-0 in the A-10 and earned a national ranking (No. 71) along the way.
Last year, Richmond downed Massachusetts, 5-1, to claim its second consecutive crown and will enter this year's tournament as the No. 1 seed. Coach Wesselink is pleased with the first seed, but realizes that the competition is getting stronger and is taking nothing for granted.
"The committee looked at the strength of our schedule, our win over Virginia Tech, and our No. 71 national ranking in determining our top seed," stated Wesselink. "We are playing our best tennis right now with wins over UMass & Central Florida. Last week, we were able to arrange a scrimmage against No. 22 William & Mary and the team was very excited with our wins and tight matches against some national caliber players."
Conference newcomer Charlotte took the second seed while Xavier followed in third, Massachusetts in fourth, Duquesne in fifth, George Washington in sixth, Saint Louis in seventh, Temple in eighth, and Fordham in ninth. Rounding out the tournament was Dayton at the 10th seed, Rhode Island (11th), Saint Joseph's (12th), La Salle (13th), and St. Bonaventure (14th).
"The level of play in the A-10 has risen every year and, with the addition of Charlotte, we expect some very tough matches," continued Wesselink. "Our doubles work is finally paying off and those matches will be crucial in establishing momentum at the tournament."
Robin Carter, a junior from Mendham, N.J. concluded the 2006 regular season with the best singles record (14-4), while competing mostly at the No. 3 spot with a 7-2 mark and recording a team-high 10-match win-streak throughout the season. Pamela Duran (11-4), a freshman from Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Ashlee Vosters (12-5), a freshman from Bethany, Del. posted the best doubles mark on the team.
Tournament play starts on Friday, April 21 at 8:00 a.m. and continues through Sunday, April 23.
Richmond's results will be posted on www.RichmondSpiders.com and complete results of the Atlantic 10 Women's Tournament Championship will be posted on www.atlantic10.org.