GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: April 22, 2021
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LOCATION: Milford Indoor Tennis
Milford, Conn. |
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GAME DAY LINKS |
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THE LEAD
The New Haven women's tennis team returns to action Thursday afternoon completing a home-and-home with Adelphi that concludes the regular season schedule. The first half of the home-and-home took place on Monday afternoon on Long Island with the Panthers squeezing out a 4-3 victory. With heavy winds and temperatures in the low 50's, the regular season finale wll take place at the Milford Indoor Tennis Center with the first serve slated for 2:30 p.m. Post-game statistics and a full recap will be available at NewHavenChargers.com following the conclusion of the match.
RECENT HISTORY VS ADELPHI
Thursday's match is the third of the season against the Panthers, with Adelphi extending its series lead over the Blue and Gold. The first meeting between the two teams took place on April 7 at Point Set Indoor Racquet Club in Oceanside, N.Y. with the Panthers taking a 5-2 decision. New Haven would switch one of those points in the second meeting on Monday as they look for the first victory over Adelphi since prior to the 2009-10 season.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
Graduate
Ivana Andric (Griesheim, Germany) continues to top the stat sheet earning a doubles victory alongside junior
Nicole Mika (Staten Island, N.Y./Laurel Springs) to notch her seventh doubles win of the year, and the first with Mika as her partner. Andric also stands as the Chargers top singles player, with six wins in seven completed matches. Behind Andric is senior
Lilia Rodriguez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista) who enters Monday with four singles wins on the season, in addition to a pair of doubles victories with sophomore
Alexa Orlando (Frederick, Md./Middletown).
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Adelphi enters the match winners of its last six, after starting the season 1-1. The Panthers have only conceded six points during their win streak, with four of those coming due to a lack of available players at sixth singles. Graduate Nicole Stay has dominated this season, as she enters Monday with a perfect 8-0 record, splitting time at third and fourth singles. Both of the Panthers doubles tandems remain perfect as well, with the Panthers not fielding a third doubles pairing.
CHARGERS RANKED IN SEASON'S FIRST REGIONAL POLL
As announced by the International Tennis Association (ITA), the Blue and Gold enter the season ranked ninth in the season's initial regional poll. The poll, sponsored by Oracle, is voted on by coaches in the region, with the results used to determine a national top 25, both of which are administered and released weekly by the ITA. The Chargers join four other schools from the Northeast-10 in the top-10 that also includes schools from the East Coast Conference (ECC) and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.
THE 2021 SCHEDULE
After this weekend, the Chargers have a pair of matches remaining in their 11-match regular season schedule for 2021, including a pair against Adelphi, however dates and times continue to change. Visit NewHavenChargers.com for the latest schedule updates. Due to the ongoing constraints of the CoVID-19 Pandemic, the NE10 adopted a 10-match conference slate which was designed to address interstate travel restrictions throughout the NE10 footprint. As part of that conference slate, the Chargers will play multiple matches against three teams; Adelphi (3 matches), Le Moyne (2 matches) and American International (2 matches).
CHARGERS FIFTH IN PRESEASON POLL
In a poll of the conference's 11 head coaches, the New Haven women's tennis team was selected to finish fifth in the Northeast-10. Adelphi received 109 points and nine of the 11 possible first place votes to take the top spot followed by Stonehill who finished just nine points behind while garnering the remaining two first place tallies. Overall, just 18 points separated the top three spots in the poll with Southern New Hampshire coming in at third overall with 91 points. Just ahead of the Chargers in fourth place was Le Moyne with 85 points, while New Haven finished with 70. Following the Blue and Gold was Franklin Pierce (66 points) in sixth place, Bentley (53) in seventh place and Assumption (50) rounding out the top-eight. Saint Anselm (37), Saint Michael's (31) and American International (23) round out the full poll.
PUSHING TOWARDS THE POSTSEASON
Due to the constraints of the CoVID-19 Pandemic, all 11 teams in the Northeast-10 will make the conference tournament this year, with the top five teams earning a first round bye. Seeds six through 11 will play in the first round of the tournament Sunday, Apr. 25 with the higher seed hosting that match. Currently New Haven sits sixth in the conference with a 3-4 record in NE10 play this season with two games left to play after Wednesday.
UP NEXT
New Haven will conclude the regular season and the home-and-home with Adelphi when the two sides battle it out at the New Haven Tennis Courts Thursday, April 22. First serve is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. with stats available at NewHavenChargers.com at the conclusion of the match.
