The women’s tennis team defeated CSAC rival Rosemont 9-0 on Friday, Sept. 9 at the Dixon Courts. The victory improved the Lady Cavs to 2-0 on the season and in the CSAC conference.
Cabrini started off the afternoon by winning all three doubles matches against Rosemont. Sophomores Katie Kennedy and Adrianna Scotto won their match 8-6 over Rosemont’s Olesya Kuchma and Kayla Coad while the Cavs’ other two pairings each recorded 8-0 wins over their opponents.
“We played really well and that was important because this was our first home game,” senior Alexis DiCamillo said. “Everyone moved around well and kept their head up.”
DiCamillo was one of the four Cavaliers to win their singles matches by identical 6-0, 6-0 scores. Scotto, Samantha Trumbo and Victoria Nastala also shut out their opponents in singles competition.
Senior Michelle Lettmann won her singles match 6-1, 6-0 while Kennedy fought her way to a 1-6, 7-5, 10-8 victory over Kuchma.
Despite their early success, the team understands that they still need to work hard to better match up with their opponents, especially when it comes to CSAC matchups.
“I think as a young team, the competition kind of points out what we need to work on,” John Magee, head coach, said. “In our second match I think we could always get used to the competition.”
Magee has coached the Cavaliers since 2004 and has led the women’s tennis program to four CSAC championships since joining the coaching staff.
Despite having a roster of only seven players, the team knows that they can have another successful season in 2011. The 2010 Cavaliers finished with a 15-3 record and lost to Gwynedd-Mercy College in the CSAC Final.
“It’s still early but we all want to have a strong season,” Trumbo said.
“We really don’t have to explain a lot to people this year,” DiCamillo said. “Sam [Trumbo] already fits in and everyone on our team sticks together.”
All six players from last year’s group have returned and are now ready to be stronger leaders, especially DiCamillo and Lettmann, who will serve as captains for the Lady Cavs in 2011. Trumbo is the team’s only freshman player this season.
“Having Alexis [DiCamillo] and Michelle [Lettmann] for four years and Gabby [Durand] for three years, they kind of know the drills and they know the team,” Magee said. “Last year was a lot of teaching with the new players.”
Kennedy, Scotto and Nastala, the team’s freshmen players last year, are already leaders on the team despite only having one year of experience under their belts.
“This year it’s just a more cohesive and smooth-running team,” Magee said.
Since Friday, the team has managed to stay undefeated by sweeping Cedar Crest College on Saturday, Sept. 10 and Rutgers-Camden on Monday, Sept. 12. The team also knocked off Lebanon Valley College by a score of 5-4 on Tuesday, Sept. 13
