University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Selected to Win Fourth-Straight A-10 Title
01/12/2012 | Women's Tennis
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Coming off of its third-straight Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Tennis Championship, a vote of the league's head coaches has selected the Spiders to win a fourth championship title.
The spiders have won eight titles in the past nine seasons.
Richmond returns six letter winners, including All-Conference first-team recipients in seniors Helen Cunningham and Joanna Matuszczyk. Cunningham earned the top singles position at 6-11 while Matuszczyk went 12-6 at No. 2 singles. Junior Alexandra Smyth and sophomore Elizabeth Sims will also return as starters. Smyth and Sims tied for a team-best of 15 wins in singles play last season. Smyth ended her sophomore season 6-1 in A-10 play while Sims ended her season 7-0 in A-10 play.
“Rankings are nice and it shows the respect for our team; especially our seniors who have worked so hard,” says Head Coach Mark Wesselink. “However, this group knows that we can only accomplish our goals by not taking anything for granted. I think our players welcome the pressure that comes from having the bull's eye put on us.”
The 2012 Atlantic 10 Women's Tennis Championship will be held April 20-22 in Charlottesville, Va.
2012 A-10 WOMEN¹S TENNIS PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH(2011 A-10 Championship finish in parentheses)
1. Richmond (1st)
2. Temple (3rd)
3. George Washington (4th)
4. Saint Louis (2nd)
5. Massachusetts (5th)
6. Xavier (T-7th)
7. Charlotte (6th)
T8. Duquesne (T-7th)
T8. Fordham (10th)
10. Dayton (9th)
11. Saint Joseph¹s (T-11th)
12. Rhode Island (T-11th)
Players Mentioned
