Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Tennis Picked Second in Patriot League Preseason Poll
1/11/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 11, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa - On Thursday, the Patriot League announced its 2007 women's tennis preseason polls. Bucknell (43) placed second after collecting two first-place votes behind Army (50), who grabbed 10 first-place votes. Lehigh (33), Colgate (28), Lafayette (19) and Holy Cross (10) placed third through sixth, respectively.
After finishing second in the Patriot League for the second consecutive season last year, the Bucknell women's tennis team is eyeing its first title since 1994 this spring. With the loss of recent graduates Veronica Brown, who holds the school record for career victories with 161 and Chelsea Mills, who is fourth in career wins with 124, the Bison look to replace two productive players and keep their success going in 2007.
"The women have been second best the past two seasons and I can't have any other expectation but to win the Patriot League title," commented 10th-year head coach Rebecca Helt.
Helt and first-year assistant coach Larry Peterson will look to sophomore co-captain Ashley Globerman, who becomes the first sophomore captain in Bucknell history, and classmate Paulina Gamboa to lead the Bison this season.
As a freshman, Globerman turned in a fall tournament singles record of 5-5 and a dual singles record of 9-11 while in the third and fourth spot in the lineup. In dual doubles, the captain paired with Mills and JoAnna Grossman to combine for an 8-11 output, including a 3-1 mark in Patriot League play.
"I'm looking for Ashley to build on her late-season success," said Helt. "If she can build on last year and get stronger, she will be very successful this season."
Gamboa had a strong freshman season going 19-16 overall in singles. She went 9-6 in tournament singles and notched a 10-10 dual singles record, which equaled Mills for the team lead in wins. In dual doubles, she teamed up with Brown and posted an 8-10 mark.
Other returning letterwinners looking to make an impact in the Bison lineup this season are junior co-captain Caitlin Baffa, and sophomores JoAnna Grossman, Tiffany Card and Camille Simonetti.
Baffa went 8-17 overall last season for the Orange and Blue. She played in the fifth spot of the lineup and recorded a 3-8 output. The co-captain recorded a 7-3 doubles recorded while paired with Chelsea Mills. Grossman played in the fifth and sixth position of the lineup in dual singles last season going 6-14. She put out a 6-7 tournament record in singles and combined with Globerman for a 3-1 record in doubles action against Patriot League foes. Card notched a 6-4 mark in tournament singles a year ago. She saw limited action in dual singles, recording a 2-3 output. Simonetti went 8-11 overall last season. She also saw limited time in the sixth spot of the lineup, going 2-3.
The Bison have a strong freshman class, headlined by Carlin Calcaterra and Tania Varela. Calcaterra came to Bucknell ranked 231st in the USTA and 41st in the Mid-West ranking. Varela was ranked No.1 in Ecuador, No.4 in South America and 298th in the ITF rankings. Freshmen Megan Lee, Eva Lipiec, Kirstyn Sotak and Renee Weissand will look to make a push into the starting lineup as well this season.
"It is hard to predict who is going to be in this year's starting lineup," replied Helt. "We have such incredible depth that it makes the lineup wide open. We don't have standouts on the team, but we do have strong players that can fill the lineup."
The Orange and Blue will open their spring season in Ithaca, N.Y., at the Cornell Invitational on Jan. 26.
