GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: April 7, 2021 LOCATION: Point Set Indoor Racquet Club | Oceanside, N.Y. GAME DAY LINKS

NEWS NEWS ROSTER ROSTER SCHEDULE SCHEDULE STATS STATS

THE LEAD
Coming off back-to-back wins over Bentley University and American International College last weekend, the New Haven women's tennis team will look for its fourth straight win Wednesday when they travel to Long Island to take on Adelphi University. First serve against the Panthers is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. with post-game stats available at NewHavenChargers.com at the conclusion of the match. This meeting with Adelphi is the first of three meetings with the Panthers over the next 15 days.

RECENT HISTORY VS ADELPHI
The Panthers have dominated the all-time series between the two squads, winning the lone match between the Chargers and Panthers every year dating back to the 2009-10 season. The most recent meeting against Adelphi came in September 2019 with the Blue and Gold dropping a 5-0 decision in Garden City.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
New Haven comes in winners of its last three contests including back-to-back 7-0 sweeps of Bentley and AIC, moving the Blue and Gold over .500 for the first time this season. Graduate Ivana Andric (Griesheim, Germany) continues to top the stat sheet with four wins across the weekend, a pair at first singles, and the other two in the top doubles spot with Senior Stephanie Gonzalez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Academia Maria Reina). The Chargers first doubles tandem hold a 5-2 record this season, while in singles play, Andric has four victories under her belt, tied for the team high with senior Lilia Rodriguez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista). Four players also saw their first game action for the Blue and Gold this weekend, with each pulling out at least one victory. Freshman Abby Murphy (Southington, Conn./Southington) earned a trio of wins across the two matches, with a singles win on Saturday and a doubles win on each day with two different partners.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Adelphi enters the match Wednesday also looking for its fourth win in a row, with just one loss on the season so far. Graduate Nicole Stay has dominated all year for the Panthers with ten overall victories on the year, split evenly between singles and doubles play. At first and second doubles the home side also comes in undefeated with the only losses coming at third doubles. The Panthers come in ranked fourth in the conference standings, two spots ahead of New Haven as the 2021 regular season begins to wind down.

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 four matches remaining in their 11-match regular season schedule for 2021, 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 UNH 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
Including Wednesday's match with Adelphi, the Chargers have five games left to play this season before the Northeast-10 Conference playoffs. Due to the constraints of the CoVID-19 Pandemic, all 11 teams in the conference will make the tournament this year, with the top five teams earning a first round bye. Seeds six through 11 will play 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 3-2 record in NE10 play this season, but will have the chance to move up before the end of the campaign, with four of their last five matches against teams with a higher seed.

UP NEXT
Following the midweek bout with Adelphi, the Chargers will return to action Sunday afternoon when they host Le Moyne College on Apr. 11. First serve against the Dolphins is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. with results available on NewHavenChargers.com following the conclusion of the match. This match will also be senior day for the Blue and Gold as they will honor their lone departing senior, Stephanie Gonzalez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Academia Maria Reina) and celebrate all her achievements as a member of the program.