WEST HAVEN, Conn. - As part of a jam-packed weekend of events on campus, the New Haven women's tennis team will play a pair of matches this weekend as they continue Northeast-10 Conference play. Saturday, the Chargers take on American International at 10:00 a.m. before hosting Franklin Pierce Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Both matches with be played at the New Haven Tennis Courts.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
With just two matches played thus far, the Chargers stand at 1-1 on the year, sweeping the opener over Saint Anselm before falling to Southern New Hampshire 5-2 on Sept. 14. The lone undefeated player for the Blue and Gold is graduate student Gaayatri Shankar (Kochi, India/TocH Public School) who is 4-0 with a pair of victories at No. 4 singles and the other two at No. 1 doubles with her teammate, graduate Ivana Andric (Griesheim, Germany) who holds the second-best overall record at 3-1. As a team New Haven holds a .667-win percentage in both singles and doubles contests this season.
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
At 0-3 on the year, American International drive down to the Nutmeg State looking for the first win of the fall, having won just one point in the three matches played thus far.
SCOUTING THE RAVENS
As the preseason favorites to win the 2021 NE10 championship Franklin Pierce opened 2021 with three wins in its first four matches, sweeping their opponents in each of three victories. Himani Moore holds the best overall record on the team at 14-1, including a perfect 5-0 with partner Liria Loria as the pair won the doubles championship at the ITA regional tournament in New York last week. On the year the Ravens hold a 22-8 record in singles play, and a 15-3 record in doubles.
Stats from Franklin Pierce include overall scores from ITA Regionals.
ANDRIC MAKES HISTORY AT ITA's
One of the top players for the Chargers, Andric was one of five players to compete at last week's ITA regionals in Queens, N.Y, becoming the first player in program history to make it to the semi-final round of the annual tournament, with one of her victories coming against Franklin Pierce's Loria in the quarter-final round.
THE FALL 2021 SCHEDULE
The Blue and Gold will play a 13-match schedule in the fall of 2021, their championship season in the NE10, hosting seven of those matches at the New Haven Tennis Courts. Having played a non-traditional spring schedule in 2021, the Chargers will return to a true regular season schedule in the fall with 10 conference matches before the NE10 playoffs in late October. The spring 2022 slate of games will be announced later this fall.
CHARGERS TABBED TO FINISH SIXTH IN NE10 PRESEASON POLL
Upon the release of the 2021 Preseason Coaches' Poll, New Haven was selected to finish sixth amongst the 11 teams in the conference receiving 56 points in the poll, just behind Southern New Hampshire (SNHU), who did not compete during the adjusted spring 2021 season due to limitations caused by the CoVID-19 Pandemic.
ANDRIC NAMED PROGRAMS FIRST ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
Following the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year, graduate Ivana Andric (Griesheim, Germany) (Griesheim, Germany) was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team accolades in the at-large division. Andric, majoring in engineering and operations management, is the first women's tennis player to earn Academic All-America distinction in program history, while she is 20th player to earn the national academic accolade among all Charger teams.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
If you haven't visited North Campus recently you haven't seen the construction taking place adjacent to Charger Gymnasium. The site is the future home of the Peterson Performance Center, a state-of-the-art facility that will house strength and condition, sports medicine, a new football locker room and meetings space with the ability to be tailored for the many different needs of all 18 varsity Charger athletic teams. The entire facility will measure 7,000 square feet and house 20 Olympic style weightlifting racks and a 60-yard turf agility and conditioning area. To learn more visit ChargerAthleticsFund.com.
NEXT ON TAP
Following the pair of matches this weekend, the Blue and Gold with head out on the road for a match against Bentley, with first serve from Waltham, Mass. scheduled for 3:00 p.m. All dates, times, and locations are subject to change due to inclement weather, please check NewHavenChargers.com for the latest information.
